Fines doubled as teens outsmart Australia's world-first social media ban

Australia is set to double potential fines for social media platforms that fail to stop children from holding accounts after seven in 10 kids remained on restricted platforms three months after a world-first ban on under-16s came into force.

The government said Sunday it would introduce draft legislation this week doubling the maximum penalty to 99 million Australian dollars (€63mn) for platforms — including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok — that do not take reasonable steps to comply with the ban, which became law on 10 December.

Communications Minister Anika Wells blamed the platforms directly. "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," she said, speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Monday.

Wells added that she had received monthly updates from the online safety regulator since March and "we are not seeing improvements".

The amendments would also expand the powers of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to demand information and documents from platforms — and from third parties such as age assurance technology providers — to test claims made by companies about how under-16s continued to circumvent the ban.

The government had initially reported more than 5 million children had accounts removed, deactivated or restricted after the legislation passed.

But eSafety found in March that 70% of children who held accounts on restricted platforms on the day the ban took effect remained active on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

Inman Grant said in April she was considering court action against those platforms and YouTube, alleging they were not taking reasonable steps to exclude children. She said she was satisfied with progress made by the remaining restricted platforms: X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch.

Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume said her party would consider supporting the reforms, but pinned blame on the original legislation.

"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," she said.

Parliament passed the initial ban with overwhelming support in 2024. Targeted platforms were given more than 12 months to plan their compliance.

Several countries that have implemented or are considering similar restrictions have been watching Australia's progress closely.

"These changes ensure that the eSafety Commissioner has the tools and powers she needs to hold platforms to account," Wells said.