Australia intends to double the potential fines for social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, that do not prevent Australian children under 16 from holding accounts. Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that the platforms' resistance to the age restrictions necessitated tougher legislation.
"We can all agree we would like the scheme to work better than it is currently, but that is on Big Tech taking the Mickey," Wells told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The government announced Sunday it would introduce draft legislation this week to double the maximum fine to 99 million Australian dollars ($68 million) for platforms failing to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts. The amendments would also enhance the powers of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s online safety watchdog, to request information and documents from platforms to ensure compliance with Australian law.
These new powers would also allow for the collection of information from third parties, such as age assurance technology providers, to verify platform claims about how minors are circumventing the ban. Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume indicated that her party would consider supporting the reforms, stating that the "social media ban wasn’t working" due to insufficient laws.
"The legislation was clearly undercooked in the first place. The eSafety Commissioner wasn’t given the powers to be able to pursue these Big Tech companies," Hume said.
The initial legislation was passed with broad support in 2024, and targeted platforms were given over a year to implement the ban. Australia's progress on this ban has been closely observed by other countries considering similar restrictions.
Initially, the government reported that over 5 million children had their accounts removed, deactivated, or restricted after the ban took effect. However, a March report from eSafety indicated that seven out of 10 children who had accounts on restricted platforms on December 10, 2024, remained on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.
In April, Inman Grant had indicated she was exploring legal action against these platforms and YouTube for allegedly failing to take adequate steps to exclude children. She had expressed satisfaction with the progress made by other platforms, including X, Kick, Reddit, Threads, and Twitch.
Wells noted that she had been receiving monthly updates from eSafety since March and stated, "we are not seeing improvements." She added, "These (draft) changes ensure that the eSafety Commissioner has the tools and powers she needs to hold platforms to account and we’re making sure that she can do just that."