Australia Proposes Doubling Fines on Social Media Platforms and Expanding eSafety Powers to Enforce Under-16 Account Ban

The Australian government announced on Sunday that it would introduce draft legislation into Parliament this week doubling the maximum fine for social media platforms that fail to prevent Australian children from holding accounts. The new ceiling would reach 99 million Australian dollars, or about 68 million U.S. dollars.

Communications Minister Anika Wells told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that the platforms' resistance had made stronger enforcement necessary. "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," she said.

The amendments would also expand the powers of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to demand information and documents from platforms and third parties, including age-assurance technology providers. Wells said she had received monthly updates from the commissioner since March and had seen no improvements.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed the changes during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on June 29.

The social media ban for users under 16 took effect on Dec. 10 after Parliament passed the original law with broad support in 2024. Platforms received more than 12 months to prepare. The government initially reported that more than 5 million children had accounts removed, deactivated or restricted.

An eSafety report in March found that seven in 10 children who held accounts on restricted platforms on Dec. 10 remained active on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Inman Grant said in April she was considering court action against those four services plus YouTube.

She expressed satisfaction with compliance progress at X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch. Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume said her party would consider supporting the reforms. "The legislation was clearly undercooked in the first place.