Australia is gearing up to impose heftier penalties on social media giants like Facebook and Instagram. The move to double potential fines comes amid criticism that the country’s pioneering ban on social media accounts for those under 16 has not been successful.
On Monday, Communications Minister Anika Wells pointed the finger at these platforms, citing their resistance to enforcing age restrictions as the primary reason for the needed escalation in legal measures, which originally took effect on December 10.
“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 expressed to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., referencing an Australian slang term that means to deceive, tease, or mock.
The government declared on Sunday that it plans to introduce draft legislation to Parliament that week, aiming to raise the maximum fine to 99 million Australian dollars ($68 million) for platforms that do not make a concerted effort to prevent Australian minors from maintaining accounts.
The proposed amendments would also empower eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who oversees Australia’s online safety, with more authority to request information and documents. This step is intended to ensure that platforms are adhering to Australian law, as noted in a government statement.
The new powers would also include information from third parties, such as age assurance technology providers, to test claims made by the platforms about how those under 16 continued to circumvent the ban, the statement said.
Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume said her party would consider voting for the reforms, saying the “social media ban wasn’t working” because of deficient 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.
Parliament passed the initial legislation with overwhelming support in 2024. The targeted platforms were given more than 12 months to plan to implement the ban.
Many countries who have implemented or are planning similar restrictions have been closely watching progress of Australia’s ban.
The government initially reported more than 5 million children had accounts removed, deactivated or restricted after the ban became law.
But eSafety reported in March that seven in 10 children who held accounts on restricted platforms on Dec. 10 remained 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 had been satisfied with progress made by the remaining restricted platforms: X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch.
Wells said she had received monthly updates from eSafety since March and “we are not seeing improvements.”
“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,” Wells said.