Australia said has vowed to double the maximum penalty it can impose on technology companies that fail to uphold a ground-breaking social media ban for children, as evidence mounts that the ban has had little effect on teen use.
The government will also strengthen the informationgathering powers of its internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, allowing it to compel social media companies to provide evidence of what they have done to stop under-16s from getting an account.
Under the changes, the maximum penalty for systematic failures to uphold the ban jumps to A$99 million ($68 million) from A$49.5 million.
The government reiterated that eSafety is actively investigating the possible noncompliance of five platforms: Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Snap’s Snapchat and TikTok. Google, Meta, Snap and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Australia’s plans outside regular business hours.
Australia’s six-month-old ban is being closely watched by many nations seeking to emulate it due to concerns about the impact of social media on youth mental and physical health. Britain this month said it planned restrictions that go further as gaming and livestreaming platforms will also be affected.
“I’m heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we’ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law – there are still too many children on social media,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
The statement said since the ban has been put in place, more than 5 million under-16 accounts have been deactivated or restricted. But numerous studies have also shown that age-assurance mechanisms, such as taking a selfie, which have been put in place by tech companies, are easily circumvented by children and that in many cases, the children have never been asked to prove their age.
Among Sydney’s grownups, Penny Lilley said on Sunday she doubted stiffer penalties would prompt improvements from platforms “when they make so much money as well off of people being on their websites.”
