Australia doubles social media fine for under-16 ban violations, expands regulator powers

The Australian government has doubled the maximum penalty for social media companies that fail to comply with the under-16 ban to 99 million AUD. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that big tech companies are not doing enough to comply with the law and that too many children remain on social media platforms. This move is part of the Albanese government's commitment to protecting children from online harms.

The new legislation also expands the powers of the eSafety Commissioner, allowing the regulator to compel platforms and third parties, including age-assurance and app-store providers, to produce information and documents to verify compliance. The maximum penalty for failing to comply with the Commissioner's information-gathering notices has also doubled. Communications Minister Anika Wells expressed dissatisfaction with tech companies' efforts to keep under-16s off their platforms.

Australia's social media minimum-age law, which prohibits children under 16 from having accounts on designated platforms, was enacted in late 2024 and took effect in December 2025. The legislation has since been replicated globally, with several countries exploring or enacting similar restrictions. In India, states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Goa are considering age-based social media restrictions, while the union government is examining a three-tier graded regulatory framework for children's access to online platforms.

The eSafety Commissioner's first compliance report, released in March 2026, revealed that five platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube—are under investigation. The report noted that platforms prompted under-16 users to re-verify their age, permitted repeated age-verification attempts, maintained ineffective reporting systems for parents, and relied heavily on self-declared age. However, the Commissioner stated that the presence of under-16 users alone does not establish non-compliance; instead, it will assess whether platforms implemented reasonable steps and effective safeguards.

Experts disagree on whether age verification can be implemented effectively at scale. At a MediaNama roundtable, one speaker argued that any technical measure is capable of circumvention, while another said it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to implement age verification without circumvention. Facial age estimation was also questioned after an incident where an AI guessed a Barbie doll's age as 102. Another speaker expressed discomfort with facial recognition on children, arguing that resilience against online harms should take precedence over intrusive verification.