Social media companies that fail to stop Australians under 16 from accessing their platforms could soon face penalties of up to $99 million under tougher new enforcement laws backed by the South Australian Government.
The changes will strengthen the powers of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, allowing the independent regulator to demand more information from social media companies about what they are doing to enforce the nation’s under-16 social media ban.
The SA Government has welcomed the announcement, with Premier Peter Malinauskas saying the tougher measures are needed to ensure technology companies meet their legal obligations.
The national ban, based on legislation originally drafted in South Australia, came into effect in December and requires platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts.
Since the laws commenced on December 10, more than five million accounts belonging to Australian children under 16 have been removed, deactivated or restricted. Despite that, governments say too many young people are still accessing age-restricted platforms.
Under the proposed changes, the eSafety Commissioner will gain expanded powers to compel companies to provide evidence showing how they are preventing children from accessing their services. The regulator will also be able to seek information from third parties, such as age assurance providers and app stores, to verify platforms’ compliance claims.
Penalties for failing to comply with information requests from the Commissioner will double, while the maximum penalty for systematic breaches of the law will increase from $49.5 million to $99 million, bringing it into line with Australia’s competition and consumer laws.
The South Australian Government says the tougher approach builds on its broader efforts to protect children online, including banning mobile phones in public school classrooms, introducing media literacy education in primary schools, adding education about the dangers of deepfakes to the curriculum and funding programs that encourage smartphone-free childhoods.
“The evidence is overwhelming – early access to addictive social media causes our kids harm,” Premier Peter Malinauskas said.
“That’s why I led the charge for a world-leading ban on social media for our most important resource – our young people.
“It’s heartening that millions of Australian kids are now safer as a result but we know there are still too many on social media.
“Big tech companies aren’t doing enough to keep under 16s off social media and I fully welcome this crackdown.”
The Premier said the stronger enforcement powers would help ensure social media companies meet their responsibilities, with significantly higher penalties for those that fail to comply.
