Australia Moves to Strengthen Under-16 Social Media Ban Amid Compliance Concerns

The Australian government has announced plans to strengthen its ban on social media accounts for children under the age of 16, citing poor compliance by major technology companies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government would introduce new legislation to increase penalties and give stronger enforcement powers to the country's online safety regulator.

According to Albanese, the existing law has resulted in the removal of more than five million underage social media accounts. However, he said many platforms are still failing to prevent children from creating or maintaining accounts. To address this, the government plans to double the maximum fines for non-compliance and expand the powers of the eSafety Commissioner to compel companies to follow the law.

The announcement comes as evidence suggests the ban has had only limited practical impact. A recent study published in The BMJ found that more than 85 percent of Australian children under 16 continued using social media three months after the restrictions came into effect. Researchers reported that many children remained active through their own accounts, often bypassing age checks by simply self-declaring their age or using selfie-based verification.

The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, clarified that the law is not aimed at punishing children or parents. Instead, it places the legal responsibility on social media companies to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16 users from accessing their platforms. Companies that fail to comply currently face penalties of up to AUD 49.5 million.

The government is also preparing to defend the legislation before Australia's High Court in a legal challenge filed by Reddit, which argues that the law is overly broad and infringes privacy and freedom of expression.

Despite criticism from groups such as Amnesty International, which has called the measure an ineffective solution, the Australian government maintains that stronger regulation is necessary to protect children's mental health and online safety.