The upper house of Australia's parliament has passed legislation that bans the use of social media by children under the age of 16. The government says the measure is necessary to protect their mental health and wellbeing.

The Senate approved the legislation on Thursday, one day after the House of Representatives passed it.

But the lower house will debate it again on Friday, as some revisions have been made. The legislation is expected to become law when it is signed later by the governor-general, who has the power to give Royal Assent to proposed laws.

The legislation would require social media operators, such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Facebook, to take steps to keep under-16s off their platforms.

But YouTube and other services whose "primary purpose" is to support the "health and education of end-users" would be exempt from the legislation.

Violators would face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, which is about 32.1 million US dollars. Penalties would not be imposed on under-16s, if it is determined that they broke the rules. Their parents would not be penalized either.

The ban is expected to go into effect in about one year. Before it does, the government intends to determine how the age of a user should be verified.

The latest opinion polls show that 77 percent of the respondents want the prohibition. But analysts say challenges remain, such as how a user's age should be checked and how the personal information of users should be handled, if the users must prove that they are over the age of 16.