Australia Says Big Tech Gamed Its Under-16 Ban. Now It's Doubling the Fines.
In late June 2026, Australia's government moved to nearly double the penalties for platforms that fail to keep under-16s off their services and to give its online regulator power to pursue technology companies in court, after officials accused the firms of using “dirty tricks” to undermine the world-first ban. The bill remains before Parliament as the regulator investigates five major networks, six months after the restrictions took effect.
Six months after Australia became the first country to bar children under 16 from holding social media accounts, its government says the platforms are still not complying — and it is moving to force them. In late June, the government introduced legislation to strengthen enforcement of the ban and to arm the online safety regulator with new powers to take technology companies to court over non-compliance, Bloomberg reported.
A penalty set to nearly double
The measure, the Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026, would raise the maximum penalty for systemic breaches to 99 million Australian dollars, about 68 million U.S. dollars, according to the Parliament of Australia and Bloomberg. It would also let the eSafety Commissioner compel companies to produce evidence of the steps they have taken to keep under-16s off their services, and extend obligations to app stores and age-assurance providers, NPR reported.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said too many children remained on the platforms and that the companies were not doing enough to comply, according to NPR. Officials accused some firms of using “dirty tricks” to undermine the restrictions, the broadcaster reported.
Five platforms under investigation
The regulator, eSafety, is investigating possible non-compliance by five services — Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Google's YouTube, NPR reported. More than five million accounts have been deactivated since the ban took effect in December 2025, according to Bloomberg, but officials say children are still finding ways onto the platforms.
Earlier assessments by the regulator found weak compliance, with platforms allowing minors to repeatedly retry age checks and failing to stop under-16 accounts from being created, according to the eSafety Commissioner.
Why Australia drew the line at 16
Australia passed the world-first restriction in 2024, and its government has framed the rule as shielding children from online harms — among them bullying, and exposure to hateful and other damaging content — that circulate on engagement-driven feeds, according to the eSafety Commissioner. The premise of the ban is that the design of the platforms, not only individual bad actors, exposes young users to that material.
The approach is contested. Some researchers and digital-rights groups question whether an age ban can be enforced without collecting sensitive data from all users, and whether it addresses the underlying harms, and the regulator itself has acknowledged that children are still reaching the platforms, NPR reported.
A test the rest of the world is watching
Australia's ban is the first of its kind, and other governments weighing limits on children's access to social media are watching how far a state can compel the largest platforms to change, Bloomberg reported. The dispute has become a test of platform accountability: whether the threat of larger fines and court action can force companies to enforce a rule they have resisted.
The bill still requires the approval of Parliament before it takes effect, according to NPR. Its passage would signal how much leverage a government is prepared to claim over the design and enforcement choices of the platforms that shape what children see.