Australia plans steeper fines over under-16 social media ban breaches

CANBERRA: Australia said on Saturday it will raise the maximum penalty for technology companies that systematically fail to enforce the country’s social media ban for children, as the government argued that too many under-16s are still able to access platforms despite the law.

Under the proposed changes, the maximum fine for repeated or systemic failures would increase to A$99 million from A$49.5 million. The government also said it will strengthen the powers of the eSafety Commissioner, Australia’s internet regulator, so it can require social media companies to provide evidence of the steps they have taken to stop children under 16 from opening accounts.

The government repeated that the regulator is actively examining possible non-compliance by five major platforms: Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Snap’s Snapchat and TikTok. Australia’s ban, which has been in place for six months, is being watched closely by other countries considering similar action over concerns about the effects of social media on the mental and physical health of young people.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that international momentum had grown since Australia introduced a minimum age for social media use, but argued that enforcement by major platforms remained inadequate.

"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"

The same statement said more than 5 million accounts belonging to under-16s have been deactivated or restricted since the ban took effect. However, the government pointed to mounting evidence that age-check systems introduced by platforms have had limited success. Tools such as selfie-based verification can be easily bypassed by children and that in many cases children were never asked to prove their age.

Study points to continued access by teenagers

A study published this week in the British Medical Journal, based on 408 adolescents, found that 85% of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban came into force. According to the study, about two-thirds of underage users remained on platforms by declaring themselves older than 16 or by uploading a selfie that was accepted as showing them above that age.

The report also referred to comments made in April by an industry body representing technology suppliers, which said difficulties in enforcing the ban stemmed from weak use by social media platforms of available age-checking tools rather than from shortcomings in the technology itself.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said in the government statement that updates she had received from the eSafety Commissioner suggested platforms were doing the least required to meet the law.

"Based on the regular updates I receive from the eSafety Commissioner, it is clear to me that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by"

Regulator to get broader information powers

In addition to allowing the regulator to seek information directly from social media companies, the planned legal amendments would also let it obtain information from third parties, including age-assurance providers and app store operators, to help test the claims made by the platforms.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said the government had not yet decided when the amendments would be introduced in parliament, but added that more would be announced soon.

Separately, message board platform Reddit has challenged the ban in Australia’s highest court, seeking to have it overturned on free speech grounds. The government has said it will contest that case.

Australia’s move is also drawing attention abroad. Britain announced this month that it plans even broader restrictions, extending them to gaming and live-streaming platforms as well.