Australia expects legal action against social media platforms over alleged breaches of under-16 account restrictions
Key Facts
Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells expects legal action against social media platforms under investigation over alleged breaches of restrictions on accounts for children under 16, Investing reported, citing Bloomberg. Wells said the eSafety regulator was gathering evidence in preparation for Federal Court proceedings. The regulator's announced compliance concerns cover Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, including both Meta platforms. The current maximum civil penalty for companies that breach the rules is A$109.2 million, according to the regulator. Enforcement decisions rest with the independent regulator as it implements the existing legal obligation on platforms.
The regulator identified shortcomings in mechanisms for reporting accounts that breach the age restrictions as part of its review of platforms' compliance with the law. It also found that measures to prevent underage users from creating new accounts were inadequate. The first compliance report said the regulator had issued 23 information-gathering notices to 10 platforms to investigate whether they were meeting their obligations. The regulator's powers include summoning people to give evidence and answer questions, according to a government statement on strengthening the minimum-age law. The statement said those who could be summoned included a social media platform executive or a former employee.
Platforms had reported removing or restricting 4.7 million age-restricted accounts by mid-December 2025, according to the compliance report released in March. In a separate assessment by the regulator, the proportion of children assessed who held a social media account fell from 52.4% before implementation to 42.1% at follow-up. The regulator described the decline as modest and statistically significant. But it said most minors who had accounts continued to hold them or created replacement accounts. The assessment attributed this to a "failure to implement effective age assurance measures," holding platforms responsible for the shortcomings in those measures.
Social media use, with or without an account, fell among the children assessed from 85.9% before implementation to 81.5% at follow-up after 3 months. This measure includes viewing and using platforms beyond the account ownership covered by the legal restrictions. Companies' obligation concerns preventing the creation and retention of prohibited accounts on services covered by the law. It does not constitute a blanket ban on viewing all content those services make available without an account, according to the regulator's explanations of the restrictions' scope. The law also imposes no penalties on underage users who access platforms, or on their parents or carers.
Platforms' obligation to comply with the age restrictions took effect on 10 December 2025, according to Australia's eSafety regulator. The law requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent prohibited accounts, placing responsibility for compliance on service providers. At the same time, it prohibits Australians from being forced to provide government-issued identification to prove their age when dealing with platforms, according to frequently asked questions published by the regulator. If companies offer government-issued identification as a verification option, they must provide users with a reasonable alternative. Age assurance procedures themselves are therefore subject to legal obligations governing what platforms may request from users when implementing the restrictions.
In a parallel legislative initiative, the government announced the introduction of a "digital duty of care" bill to parliament, according to a statement by the communications minister. The bill aims to expand technology companies' responsibility for safety on their platforms. It also includes setting minimum safety standards for online services, including games, apps and AI chatbots. The minimum-age law, meanwhile, requires the minister to initiate an independent review of its operation within two years of 10 December 2025. The review is a statutory requirement to assess how the restrictions are working, alongside enforcement by the independent regulator.