Australia to double maximum fines for breaches of teen social-media ban
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The government will raise the top penalty for violating the under-16 social-media ban to AUD 99 million and expand the eSafety Commissioner’s enforcement powers.
Australia will increase the maximum penalty for violating its law that bars users under 16 from social-media platforms from AUD 49.5 million to AUD 99 million. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the change alongside plans to broaden the eSafety Commissioner’s authority to require platforms to provide evidence of their age-verification practices.
The measure follows the Online Safety Amendment Act, which took effect in December and prohibited accounts for under-16s on services such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X and YouTube. More than five million accounts have been removed, deactivated or restricted since the rule began, but officials said the outcome remains insufficient.
"It is clear that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by," Minister for Communications Anika Wells said in a government statement.
The eSafety Commissioner is currently investigating possible non-compliance by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, and the new legislation would also extend the Commissioner’s reach to third-party age-verification services and app-store providers, closing a loophole that allowed platforms to shift responsibility.