Social media firms must better enforce Australia under-16 ban, watchdog says

Regulator eSafety says it has concerns about how Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube are complying with the ban.

Australia's internet regulator is investigating five major social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube—for potential breaches of its new under-16 ban, signaling possible enforcement actions under a world-first regime.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner has issued notices to five major social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube—over concerns that children under 16 are still maintaining accounts, despite initial compliance efforts.

Kate Alessi, managing director of Google UK and Ireland, has criticized the Australian government's ban on social media for under-16s, suggesting it could push children towards more dangerous and unsupervised corners of the internet.

Australia's online watchdog is investigating major tech companies, including Facebook and YouTube, for potential breaches of the country's under-16 social media ban, with fines up to $33 million for non-compliance.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner is considering legal action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube for not adequately enforcing the ban on users under 16, with potential fines up to AU$49.5 million.

Australia is investigating Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube for possible breaches of the country's under-16 social media ban, accusing the big tech companies of failing to comply with the laws.

Australia's online safety watchdog is considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube for not doing enough to keep Australian children under 16 off their platforms.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner says five social media platforms are under investigation for potentially failing to comply with the social media ban for under 16s. Users aged under 16 have been banned from social media since December 10th and social media companies who fail to take reasonable steps to comply face fines of up to $49.5 million.

Big tech firms including Meta, TikTok and Google have been accused of disobeying Australia’s ban on under-16s using social media, after the country’s online safety office warned that many children still held accounts. A survey of 900 Australian parents found about a third (31%) said their children still had one or more social media accounts after the ban, compared with 49% before the laws. Of all the under-16s with accounts on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok before the ban, 70% had maintained access, the survey found. Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, which operates as a subsidiary of Google, are all under investigation for potential noncompliance with the rules, it was revealed yesterday. Australia’s communications minister, Anika Wells, said that the companies were not doing enough to enforce the ban. The country’s eSafety commissioner claimed the technology being used by the companies - such as facial age estimation - was not effective enough and alleged the firms had lax guardrails which allowed teens to repeatedly attempt age verification until they were successful. “None of this is impossible,” Wells said yesterday. “None of this is even difficult for big tech who are innovative billion-dollar companies. What this update shows is unacceptable. If these companies want to do business in Australia, they must obey Australian laws.” Minimum age laws for social media specify that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit are “age-restricted platforms”. Under-16s are banned from holding accounts and the companies are required to take reasonable steps to prevent children from opening or holding accounts. The laws, which came into effect last December, carry a maximum penalty of A$49.5m (£25.8m).

Big tech firms including Meta, TikTok, and Google have been accused of disobeying Australia’s ban on under-16s using social media, after the country’s online safety office warned that many children still held accounts. A survey of 900 Australian parents found about a third (31%) said their children still had one or more social media accounts after the ban, compared with 49% before the laws. Of all the under-16s with accounts on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok before the ban, 70% had maintained access, the survey found. Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, which operates as a subsidiary of Google, are all under investigation for potential noncompliance with the rules, it was revealed yesterday. Australia’s communications minister, Anika Wells, said that the companies were not doing enough to enforce the ban. The country’s eSafety commissioner claimed the technology being used by the companies - such as facial age estimation - was not effective enough and alleged the firms had lax guardrails which allowed teens to repeatedly attempt age verification until they were successful. “None of this is impossible,” Wells said yesterday. “None of this is even difficult for big tech who are innovative billion-dollar companies. What this update shows is unacceptable. If these companies want to do business in Australia, they must obey Australian laws.” Minimum age laws for social media specify that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick, and Reddit are “age-restricted platforms”. Under-16s are banned from holding accounts and the companies are required to take reasonable steps to prevent children from opening or holding accounts. The laws, which came into effect last December, carry a maximum penalty of A$49.5m (£25.8m).

As it releases its first compliance update since Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) law took effect, the eSafety Commission is waving a finger at major social media companies for not falling in line with obligations. A statement from eSafety says it has “significant concerns about the compliance of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube,” and is “continuing to gather evidence necessary to inform potential enforcement action.” Regulatory bodies have been eager to proclaim themselves willing and able to enforce their rules. Yet the titans of Silicon Valley are getting a first warning, with threats of punitive measures if they don’t make improvements. The compliance update summarizes data collected in the first three months of implementation of the SMMA obligation, focusing on 10 platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. As a result of the findings, compliance and enforcement efforts will now focus on just 5: “eSafety is actively investigating potential non-compliance in relation to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. We are aiming to finalize at least some of these investigations and make a decision about any enforcement action by the middle of 2026.” The statement acknowledges “there has been some progress in the first 3 months, including large scale account removals and more visible underage reporting pathways.” However, it says, “insights from a range of sources including platforms’ responses to legally enforceable information-gathering notices, public reporting and eSafety’s pulse survey, show major gaps remain.” Many users under 16 have retained accounts. Most often, this is because they had not yet been asked by the platform to verify their age. Among the other “poor practices” eSafety includes are age assurance prompts presented to those who have declared their age to be under 16, “enabling children aged under 16 to repeatedly attempt the same age assurance method to ultimately obtain a 16+ outcome,” failure to implement reporting protocols, and “insufficient measures to prevent new under 16 accounts being created.” Referring specifically to biometric facial age estimation (FAE), the report finds it to be an “effective form of age assurance” if used well – “in particular, for confirming that a person is considerably younger or older than a given age threshold.” “However, facial age estimation is known to have higher error rates for children near the age threshold of 16 years.” As such, platforms that encouraged self-declared 14- and 15-year-olds to undergo age checks and offered facial age estimation to increase their account age would have been aware that many of them would likely receive “a false 16+ outcome.” At worst, age assurance laws can affect services that aren’t the primary target, while merely inconveniencing those companies, worth billions of dollars, which present the biggest risk. Dr. Rob Nicholls, a senior research associate at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Sydney, says that while “Australia has enacted genuinely ambitious legislation, this report shows ambition alone is not enough.” “The compliance gaps identified are not accidental,” says Nicholls in a release. “The platforms engineered workarounds into their own age assurance systems, failed to close reporting pathways and allowed repeated attempts to game facial recognition. These gaps reflect the rational commercial behaviour of platforms operating under a law that still leaves substantial discretion in their hands.” He believes “enforcement action against five major platforms simultaneously will test the regulator’s resources and resolve in equal measure.”

Australia is investigating Facebook, TikTok and YouTube for possible breaches of the country's under-16 social media ban, accusing the big tech companies on Tuesday of "failing to obey" the world-leading laws. Australia in December banned under-16s from a raft of the world's most popular social media sites, citing the need to protect young minds from "predatory algorithms" filled with sex and violence. Three months since the landmark laws came into effect, Australia's online safety watchdog found a "substantial proportion of Australian children" were still scrolling banned platforms.