Australia doubles fines for breaches of under-16 social media ban
The Australian government will double fines for tech firms that fail to comply with its under-16 social media ban, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese argues they are “not doing enough”.
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The Australian government will double fines for tech firms that fail to comply with its under-16 social media ban, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese argues they are “not doing enough”.
- Australia will double fines to A$99 million for companies that fail to enforce its under-16 social media ban.
- The move comes as the government says tech platforms are still not doing enough to prevent underage users from accessing social media.
- Regulators will gain stronger powers to demand evidence from companies on how they enforce age restrictions.
- Authorities can now also request data from third parties like app stores and age-verification providers.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The ban, introduced in December, barred under-16s from having accounts on social media platforms. Australia’s internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, is now investigating the possible non-compliance of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
The government will strengthen the regulator's information-gathering powers, allowing it to require social media companies to provide evidence of the steps they have taken to prevent under-16s from creating accounts.
On top of that, the law will allow eSafety to gather information from third parties, such as age-verification and app store providers, to verify claims made by the platforms.
"I'm heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we’ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law – there are still too many children on social media," Albanese said.
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The maximum penalty will jump from A$49.5 million ($34 million) to A$99 million ($68 million) under the new rules.
According to the government, more than 5 million accounts held by under-16s had been removed, deactivated, or restricted since the introduction of the ban.
However, research showed that over 80% of under-16s in Australia were still using social media despite the restrictions three months after the ban. The British Medical Journal’s research said there was insufficient evidence that the ban had substantially reduced teenagers' social media use.
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A government spokesperson told Reuters that it’s not yet specified when the amendments to the law will be introduced to parliament, but more information will follow soon.
Australia became the first country to enact such a law, with many nations weighing in on their own local bans. Earlier in June, the UK also announced plans to ban social media for under-16s. The first set of regulations could go into effect as early as Spring 2027.
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