Australia’s under-16 social media ban is getting a much bigger stick.
The Australian government plans to double the maximum penalty for platforms that systematically breach the country’s social media minimum age law, raising the fine to A$99 million, or about $68 million.
The move puts Meta, Google, Snap, TikTok, and other major platforms under sharper compliance pressure in Australia, where tougher enforcement could mean stricter age checks, more account restrictions, and new privacy questions for users.
For social media companies, the message is no longer just to remove underage accounts. They may also have to prove their age-checking systems work.
Australia raises the cost of breaches
Reuters reported that the proposed change would raise the maximum penalty for systemic failures from A$49.5 million to A$99 million.
The government also plans to strengthen the eSafety Commissioner’s information-gathering powers, allowing the regulator to compel platforms to provide evidence of what they have done to stop children under 16 from creating accounts.
According to Reuters, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia had seen global momentum since introducing the minimum age rule, but added: “It’s clear big tech is not doing enough to comply with the law — there are still too many children on social media.”
The eSafety Commissioner is actively investigating possible non-compliance by five platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok. The planned update would also allow the regulator to gather information from third parties, including age-assurance providers and app store providers, to test platforms’ claims.
The BBC noted that children under 16 have been prevented from accessing 10 major social media platforms in Australia since December 10, 2025. It also noted that the ban has been difficult to enforce, citing eSafety findings that 7 in 10 children under 16 who had a social media account before the ban still had “some access.”
Age checks remain the weak point
Since the ban took effect, Australia has removed, deactivated, or restricted well over 5 million under-16 accounts. Even so, studies and polling suggest many young users are still finding their way back onto major platforms.
Engadget said that the Molly Rose Foundation found 61% of more than 1,000 children aged 12 to 15 still had access to social media. It also cited a University of Newcastle study that claimed more than 85% of Australian teens under 16 were still using social media apps.
Minister for Communications Anika Wells said she was “not satisfied” that tech companies were doing everything they could to keep children off social media. She also stated that platforms were “utilizing tactics directly from the big tech playbook and only doing the minimum required to survive,” according to the BBC.
The enforcement question now goes beyond whether a platform asks for a birthday or a selfie.
Regulators are pushing for proof, audit trails, and third-party verification, which could force platforms to spend more on compliance teams, age-assurance vendors, app store coordination, and internal reporting systems.
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Australia’s ban faces its next challenge
Australia’s law is being watched because it created one of the world’s most aggressive models for restricting children’s access to social media.
The UK has already announced plans for similar restrictions, while other governments are weighing how to protect minors without creating new risks to privacy, identity, or speech.
For Australia, the next phase is less about passing a headline-making law and more about proving it can be enforced. If platforms can still rely on weak self-declaration tools or inconsistent age checks, tougher penalties may become the government’s main lever for pushing technical and operational change.
The tougher approach also comes with tradeoffs.
Stronger age checks may reduce underage access, but they can also raise concerns about data collection, identity verification, false positives, and how much personal information users must share to prove their age.
Australia is now testing whether major platforms will change their systems when weak enforcement carries a much higher price. The outcome could shape not only how children use social media, but how governments regulate digital platforms.
Also read: The UK’s proposed under-16 social media ban could bring stricter age checks, teen defaults, and feature limits for social and AI platforms.