Australia is making it very expensive for social media companies to ignore its under-16 ban. The government just doubled the maximum penalty from 49.5 million to 99 million AUD — roughly $68 million.
“It’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The changes grant the eSafety Commission new powers to demand evidence from social media companies about how they’re enforcing the minimum age requirement, including gathering information from third parties like app store providers.
Since the ban took effect in December, over five million under-16 accounts have been removed, deactivated, or restricted. The eSafety Commission says it’s actively investigating potential non-compliance at Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.
But the real question is whether any of this is working. A study from the Molly Rose Foundation in April found that 61% of kids aged 12 to 15 still had access to social media. More recently, the University of Newcastle published research showing over 85% of Australian teens under 16 are still on the banned apps.
The penalties are massive. The compliance, so far, is not.
