Australia wants to double fines for social media outfits after teens made its under-16 ban look rubbish.
According to Euronews the government plans to double fines for social media platforms that fail to keep under-16s off restricted services. Regulators found 70 per cent of children with accounts were still active three months after the ban took effect.
The changes would give the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, more power to demand information from platforms and age-assurance providers. Teens, meanwhile, appear to be treating the law like another mildly annoying login screen.
The government said it would introduce draft legislation this week doubling the maximum penalty to A$99m, about €63m. The rules would hit platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok if they fail to take reasonable steps to comply.
The ban became law on 10 December. The government now seems to have noticed that Big Tech’s idea of reasonable compliance looks rather relaxed.
Communications minister Anika Wells said, speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “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.”
Wells said she had received monthly updates from the online safety regulator since March and “we are not seeing improvements.”
The amendments would expand Inman Grant’s powers to demand information and documents from platforms. They would extend to third parties, such as age-assurance technology providers, which are supposed to help keep kids out.
The plan is to test companies’ claims about how under-16s keep dodging the ban. The government initially reported that more than five million children had their accounts removed, deactivated, or restricted after the legislation passed. But eSafety found in March that 70 per cent of children who held accounts on restricted platforms when the ban took effect remained active on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
In April, Inman Grant said she was considering court action against those platforms and YouTube. She alleged they were not taking reasonable steps to exclude children.
Inman Grant said she was satisfied with progress made by X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch.
Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume said her party would consider supporting the reforms. She blamed the original legislation for leaving the watchdog short of useful teeth.
“The legislation was clearly undercooked in the first place. The eSafety Commissioner wasn’t given the powers to be able to pursue these Big Tech companies,” Hume said.
