'Doing the Bare Minimum': Australia to Fine Social Media Giants Up to A$99m After Under-16 Ban Falls Short

Australia is doubling down on Big Tech. The government in Canberra announced on Saturday that the maximum financial penalty for platforms found breaching its landmark under-16 social media ban will be raised to A$99 million (£51.7 million), nearly double the previous cap of A$49.5 million that had been in place since the law took effect in December 2025.

The move signals growing frustration from the Australian government after months of evidence suggesting the ban has not been effectively enforced. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said plainly: 'There are still too many children on social media.' His communications minister, Anika Wells, was even blunter, accusing platforms of adopting 'tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by.'

How the Ban Is Supposed to Work

Under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, which passed in November 2024 and came into force on 10 December 2025, social media companies are required to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts on their platforms. Crucially, penalties fall on the platforms themselves, not on children or their families.

Platforms are required to take 'reasonable steps' to prevent under-16s from holding accounts by deploying age verification or age estimation technology at the point of account creation or when reviewing existing accounts.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that platforms already had the technology and personal data about their users to enforce the age restriction with precision. She sent the ten targeted platforms formal notices demanding information on how the age restriction was being implemented and how many accounts had been closed.

By June 2026, age-restricted platforms had removed access to more than 5 million under-16 accounts across Australia, with platforms required to routinely recheck accounts, not just at the point of sign-up.

The ban covers ten platforms: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Reddit, Twitch, Threads and Kick. Services primarily for education, health support, online gaming, messaging and professional networking are excluded.

Why It Has Fallen Short

The results have been patchy at best. The eSafety Commission's own compliance update found that seven out of ten children under 16 who had a social media account before the ban still had 'some access' to those platforms.

When the ban launched, some young children reported getting around the platforms' age estimation technology by drawing on facial hair. Investigations have since been opened into five platforms for alleged non-compliance: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Experts have raised concerns about whether the ban can be enforced effectively, with the risk of pushing youth activity into less visible online spaces. Digital Content Creation Lecturer Dr Brittany Ferdinands of the University of Sydney warned that 'preventing under-16s from having social media accounts won't necessarily stop them using them — it may push their activity underground.'

Stronger Powers for the Regulator

As part of Saturday's announcement, the eSafety Commissioner will now have the authority to compel social media companies to hand over evidence of what steps they have taken to comply with the law. Previously, companies could delay or limit the information they provided, making it harder to build enforcement cases.

Albanese added that he was 'heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum' since the ban was introduced, but stressed that big tech 'are not doing enough to comply with the law.'

What This Means for the UK

Australia's experience is being watched closely in Westminster. Governments from Europe to Asia are weighing similar moves, positioning Australia as a test case for children's online safety legislation.

In June 2026, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that the UK will introduce a similar ban for children under 16, with plans for it to come into effect by spring 2027. A final list of affected platforms has not yet been published, though the government said the law would cover services 'whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material.' An overnight curfew and restrictions on infinite scrolling for under-18s are also under consideration.

Australia's tightened penalties and expanded regulatory powers come at a pivotal moment for global children's online safety law. The country's struggles to enforce its own pioneering ban offer a cautionary lesson for policymakers elsewhere, including the UK, that legislation alone is not enough without the tools and authority to hold platforms to account.