SYDNEY, March 31 - Australia's internet safety regulator announced that it is investigating five major social media platforms for possible breaches of the country's newly enacted ban on under-16 users. The move represents the regulator's first public judgement on how the law is being followed and signals a shift toward enforcement action under what Australia has described as a world-first regime.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the regulator has identified potential non-compliance by Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Google's YouTube. The watchdog is gathering evidence that could form the basis for penalties, she said.
"While social media platforms have taken some initial action, I am concerned through our compliance monitoring that some may not be doing enough to comply with Australian law," Inman Grant said in a statement. "We are now moving into an enforcement stance," she added.
Under the legislation, platforms found to be noncompliant face fines of up to A$49.5 million, equivalent to about $34 million at the conversion rate cited by the regulator. eSafety also warned that companies could suffer reputational damage if breaches are confirmed.
The regulator outlined a number of specific areas where it has observed shortcomings. These include failure to prompt users who previously declared ages under 16 to complete new age-verification checks; systems that allow repeated attempts at age-assurance until a result over 16 is achieved; inadequate reporting pathways for spotting and flagging underage accounts; and weak protections to stop new sign-ups by users under 16.
Each platform under review has been notified of particular concerns and told what improvements are expected, according to the regulator.
TikTok declined to comment. Spokespeople for Meta, Snap and Google were not immediately available for comment.
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