Australia To Sue Meta, TikTok And Other Platforms Over Violations Of Under-16 Social Media Ban

Australia’s government is preparing to take Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube to the Federal Court over alleged breaches of its nationwide ban on social media accounts for children under 16, Communications Minister Anika Wells has said.

The legal action follows concerns that the platforms have failed to prevent underage users from accessing their services despite the law requiring them to take reasonable steps to enforce age restrictions.

Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, launched investigations in March into the five platforms, citing potential non-compliance with the legislation.

Underage Users Continue To Access Platforms

An eSafety report published in July found that most under-16 users were still able to retain their existing social media accounts or create new ones, largely because of ineffective age-verification measures.

The findings raised questions about the platforms’ efforts to enforce the restrictions, which aim to protect children from harmful online content.

In an interview in Sydney on Monday, Wells said she expected legal proceedings against all five companies to move forward.

“Now she has more powers to be able to gather the evidence that she needs to take those five companies to the Federal Court,” Wells said, referring to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. “She’s now using those powers to prepare her case.”

Maximum Penalty Doubled To A$109.2 Million

Australia has doubled the maximum penalty for breaches of the law to A$109.2 million, equivalent to around US$76 million, since the world-first ban came into force nearly a year ago.

The government has also expanded the eSafety Commissioner’s investigative powers. The regulator can now demand documents from social media companies and summon current or former employees to answer questions.

The additional powers are intended to help the regulator gather evidence and establish whether the platforms have failed to meet their legal obligations.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and the eSafety Commissioner did not immediately comment on the minister’s remarks. Representatives of Snap, TikTok owner ByteDance and Google, which owns YouTube, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Minister Accuses Tech Companies Of Non-Compliance

Wells reiterated her criticism of social media companies in a speech to the National Press Club on October 15, arguing that the legislation itself was not the problem.

“The law is not failing — platforms are failing to comply with the law,” she said. “We won’t flinch at holding tech companies to account.”

The eSafety Commissioner operates as an independent regulator and is accountable to Australia’s Parliament through the communications minister.

The anticipated court action marks the government’s latest effort to enforce its restrictions on under-16s’ access to social media, with the outcome likely to test how effectively the law can hold major technology companies accountable for age-verification failures.