Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced this week that Australia will double the maximum fine for violating its social media minimum age law, raising the fine range from $AUD49.5 million ($US33 million) to $AUD99 million ($US68.2 million). The government is also moving to expand the powers of the e-Safety Commissioner to force platforms to provide evidence on what they are actually doing to keep people under 16 off their services.
The next social media ban? Austria is considering blocking children under 14 from social media
The news comes nearly six months after Australia’s Online Safety Amendment Act took effect, banning platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X and YouTube from allowing users under the age of 16 to have accounts, as Mashable previously reported. More than five million accounts have been removed, deactivated or banned since December 10 – but according to Albanese, that’s not enough.
mashable light speed
“It’s clear that social media platforms are taking tricks straight out of the big tech strategy and doing the bare minimum,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said in the government statement.
The eSafety Commissioner is currently investigating potential non-compliance on five platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
The new law will also extend the commissioner’s reach to third parties such as age-verification and app-store providers – closing a loophole that lets platforms point the finger elsewhere if their enforcement is lacking.
Subject
social media government
<a href