Since Australia banned social media for children in December, lawmakers from Spain to Malaysia have expressed a desire to follow suit, while U.S. courts have recognized tech giants’ negligence toward young users. This international attention on the first ban of this kind for under 16s seems to have encouraged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government to intensify enforcement this week. According to tech policy experts, Canberra is taking a harder stance, which it presented two months ago as successful cooperation with the industry. By adopting a more aggressive posture towards apps such as Instagram and TikTok, Albanese’s center-left government is applauding the apparent order abroad – at least eight countries have expressed a desire for similar restrictions – but is aiming to counter reports that many teenagers continue to scroll through content on their phones. “The whole world is watching Australia in this experiment. Consequently, to back down or pretend that failures of reasonable efforts do not exist would portray a weak government,” said Jeannie Paterson, co-founder of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics, which regularly advises the government on tech policy. A spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that she had not hardened her stance due to global attention, refusing further comment. One month after the ban came into effect, the government reported in mid-January that social media platforms had deactivated 4.7 million accounts suspected of belonging to minors, giving industry players a grace period of up to a year to comply. The UK and Canadian governments, as well as some U.S. lawmakers, have consulted with Australian authorities on this ban – a policy massively supported by parents but opposed by an industry worth several trillion dollars that must comply. However, these signs of progress have been undermined by a series of headlines about minors remaining on social media. On Tuesday, the government announced investigations into Instagram and Facebook (Meta), TikTok, YouTube (Alphabet), and Snapchat for possible law violations, gathering evidence for potential legal action. The eSafety regulator had previously indicated that it would only take enforcement action in cases of systemic non-compliance. In its first comprehensive compliance report, the regulator revealed that nearly a third of parents say their child under 16 still has at least one social media account. Among them, two-thirds say the platform did not request the child’s age. Angela Flannery, former legal advisor to the Communications Ministry now advising the private sector, said, “The government is overall very encouraged by the number of other jurisdictions considering imposing restrictions on under-16s globally.” But considering Tuesday’s “encouraging” compliance report, Ms. Flannery added, “They probably want to show they are acting to continue encouraging other jurisdictions to implement or enact similar bans.” Meta and Snap have committed to complying with the ban, TikTok declined to comment, and Alphabet did not respond to a request for comment on the government’s actions. META AND GOOGLE LOSE IN U.S. COURTS The eSafety report indicates that complaints about cyberbullying and image-based abuse – issues the government aimed to address with the ban – remained unchanged, while parents reported being unable to notify platforms that their underage children still had accounts. Minors who failed an age test were encouraged to retry until they passed, the regulator clarified. The ban requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent under 16s from having an account, with fines of up to A$49.5 million ($34 million). Communications Minister Ms. Wells stated that the issue comes not from parents or children not complying, but from tech giants undermining government policy. According to sources close to the matter, Australia was also emboldened by a recent U.S. verdict condemning Meta to $375 million in fines for security flaws that allowed the exploitation of children on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as a ruling finding Meta and Google negligent in the design of platforms harmful to young people. “The proceedings in New Mexico and California have helped the cause in the court of public opinion,” said Julian Sefton-Green, a new media professor at Deakin University advising the commissioner in a two-year study on the impact of the ban. “These are jury decisions stating that social networks are responsible for the well-being of young people, so I think the government will draw confidence from that.” Rob Nicholls, a regulation researcher at the University of Sydney, estimated that legal action could lead to a redesign of platforms in line with the Australian ban, focusing on minor protection. “The effect of this design change will be to reduce access for under 16s,” he said. “If you have to do it to avoid lawsuits in the U.S., you might as well do the same worldwide.” (1 $ = 1.4531 Australian dollars)
