Australia doubles fines for tech firms over under-16 social media ban

Australia doubled the maximum penalty for tech companies that fail to enforce its under-16 social-media ban, lifting the top fine for systematic breaches to A$99 million from A$49.5 million. The government also moved to expand the powers of the eSafety Commissioner so the regulator can compel firms to produce evidence of how they are blocking underage users.

The tougher regime landed six months after the ban took effect, and officials said evidence was mounting that it had not meaningfully reduced teen use. Canberra said it was actively investigating possible non-compliance by five major platforms: Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Snap’s Snapchat and TikTok.

The policy has become a test of whether penalties alone can force compliance in a market where children adapt quickly, creating new accounts and getting around age checks as platforms update their own systems. The practical problem is not just the size of the fine. It is the mechanics of enforcement: proving a user is under 16, building checks that do not overcollect personal data, and doing it at scale across apps that are designed to spread fast and change often.

That is why the Australian move is being watched so closely abroad. Britain is among the governments considering similar restrictions, driven by concerns over the mental and physical health effects of social media on children. Australia is now giving those debates a live case study, showing what happens when a state moves beyond policy statements and starts demanding proof from the companies themselves.

The political stakes are rising with the financial ones. By widening the commissioner’s authority and doubling the penalties, Australia signaled that it is prepared to push harder on privacy, verification and compliance costs, even if the enforcement gap remains open. Other democracies will now have to decide whether that pressure produces real age controls, or just a more expensive race between regulators and the platforms.