The fine could now potentially reach AUD 99 million or $68 million.
Australia’s numbers are not doubling after becoming the first country in the world to implement a ban on social media for those under 16. In a press release, the Australian government announced that it would double the maximum fine for any social media company that breaks its minimum age law, from 49.5 million to 99 million AUD, or more than $68 million.
The country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “It is clear that big tech is not doing enough to comply with the law.” “These changes reflect the seriousness with which we take any failure by social media companies to comply with our world-leading law.”
With the new penalty limits, the Australian Government is giving more enforcement powers to its e-Safety Commissioner, Julie Grant. Now, commissioners can demand social media companies to provide evidence of how they are preventing children under 16 from setting up accounts. Specifically, according to the press release, the Australian agency may gather evidence regarding age verification or compliance with the ban from third parties such as app store providers. The country’s online security agency also said it was still “actively investigating potential non-compliance” with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
While the government said it has removed, deactivated or banned more than 5 million accounts of people under the age of 16 since the ban went into effect in December, there have been some recent studies and surveys that note potential ineffectiveness. In April, a charity organization called the Molly Rose Foundation found that 61 percent of more than 1,000 children between the ages of 12 and 15 still had access to social media. Recently, Newcastle University published a study claiming that more than 85 percent of Australian teens under the age of 16 are still on social media apps.
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