Career-networking site LinkedIn has told Australian lawmakers it is too dull for kids to warrant its inclusion in a proposed ban on social media for under 16 year olds. "LinkedIn simply does not have content interesting and appealing to minors," the Microsoft-owned company said in a submission to an Australian senate committee.

Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.

An advocate for major social media platforms has told Australia’s Parliament that a plan to ban children younger than 16 from the sites should be delayed rather than being rushed to approval this week

The legislation would impose fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) on platforms for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.