The Australian government has threatened to go to court in a bid to sue social media giants for allegedly flouting a ban on under-16s, as its internet regulator disclosed it is investigating some of the biggest platforms for suspected non-compliance with the world-first measure.
Three months after the ban came into effect, the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said her office was probing Meta's platforms Instagram and Facebook, Google's YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok for possible breaches of the law.
In support of Grant's efforts, Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government was gathering evidence "so that the eSafety Commissioner can go to the Federal Court and win".
"We have spent the summer building that evidence base of all the stories that no doubt you have all heard ... about how kids are getting around that," Wells told reporters in Canberra.
At the launch of the ban, the tech giants said they had deactivated 4.7 million suspected underage accounts, however the government said it has faced daily headlines of teenagers evading restrictions or simply keeping their accounts without being asked their age.
Meta and Snap said they were committed to complying with the ban, and a Meta spokesperson added the government's own trial of age-assurance technology found "natural error margins" around the 16 age cutoff.
TikTok declined to comment while a Google spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Under the Australian law, the platforms must show how they are taking reasonable steps to under-16s off their services or face fines of up to $34 million (A$49.5 million) per breach. Any fine would have to be pursued in a civil court, with evidence.
The legal threat marks a departure from the warm tone the government was giving in December, when the ban was launched, praising the cooperation of social media companies.
Governments around the world are watching Australia's moves to rein in the tech giants and to see how the ban is enforced and how effective it is, with many countries considering similar regulation to protect children from harms including bullying and body-shaming associated with social media.
Regulation vs compliance
The first comprehensive compliance report since the ban took effect, said measures taken by the platforms were substandard and it would make a decision about next steps by mid-year. The regulator previously said it would only take enforcement action in cases of systemic noncompliance.
The regulator reported major compliance gaps, including platforms prompting children who had previously declared ages under 16, to make fresh age checks, allowing repeated attempts at age-assurance tests until a child got a result over 16 and poor pathways for people to report underage accounts.
"We are now moving into an enforcement stance" Grant said in a statement. "Many Australian children aged under 16 have been able to create accounts on age‑restricted social media platforms by simply declaring they are 16 or older" she continued.
Some platforms did not use age-inference, which estimates age based on someone's online activity, and some only used age-assurance measures such as photo-based checks after a user tried to change their age, rather than at sign‑up.
Nearly one-third of parents reported their under-16 child had at least one social media account after the ban took effect, of which two-thirds said the platform had not asked the child's age, it added.
The Iran-U.S.-Israel conflict is escalating further with missile and drone attacks, expanded strikes on key infrastructure, and growing regional fa...
China's three largest state-owned airlines have issued warnings regarding their financial outlook for the c...
The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday t...
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top storie...
The Australian government has threatened to go to court in a bid to sue social media giants for allegedl...
Austria’s government on Friday approved plans to introduce a nationwide ban on social media use for children under the age of 14, alongside reforms to upper secondary school curricula aimed at boosting media literacy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) education from the 2027/28 academic year.
The UK government is to trial social media bans, curfews and app time limits in the homes of 300 teenagers, as part of a wider consultation on restricting under-16s’ access to platforms and improving online safety.
British MPs have rejected a proposal to introduce an Australia-style ban on social media for under-16s, opting instead to give ministers flexible powers to impose restrictions on platforms.
Germany's ruling conservatives on Saturday (21 February) passed a motion to ban social media use for under 14s and introduce more stringent digital verification checks for teenagers, building momentum for such limits in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the U.S is in talks with the new Iranian regime. He said this in a post on his Truth Social account but warned that the U.S. will "Obliterate" Iran's electric and oil facilities if no deal is reached, especially regarding the Strait of Hormuz closure.
Cuba and the United States have been at odds for more than six decades, with tensions rooted in the 1959 revolution that transformed the island’s political and economic system. Renewed focus on relations comes as Donald Trump’s rhetoric intensifies and conditions on the island worsen.
NASA is aiming to launch its Artemis 2 mission on Wednesday (1 April), sending astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, officials confirmed. According to the Space Administration, the launch window is due to open at 23:24 GMT, with additional opportunities to 6 April if delays occur.
A senior Iranian military officer warned that American troops will become ‘food for sharks’ on Sunday if the U.S. launches a ground offensive in Iran. The threat came as contingents of U.S. Marines began to arrive in the Middle East, with thousands expected to be deployed in the region.
The Israeli military said on Monday that Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, and an attack had also been launched from Yemen for the second time since the U.S.-Israeli war began on Tehran. It said two drones from Yemen were intercepted early 30 March but gave no further details.
The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre and to voice their support for Ukraine, amid tensions within the bloc over blocked EU aid.
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 31 March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
At least 70 people have been killed and more than 30 wounded in a gang attack in Haiti’s Artibonite region, according to two rights organisations, as thousands of residents fled the violence in the towns of Jean Denis and Pont Sondé.
Russia has expelled a British diplomat, accusing him of economic espionage in a move that further strains already tense relations between Moscow and London. The United Kingdom described the action as intimidation and rejected the allegations outright, Reuters reports.
Two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid from Mexico arrived safely in Havana on Saturday, the Mexican Navy said, concluding a journey in which the vessels were delayed by bad weather and briefly reported missing.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment