Social media firms given enforcement warning ahead of Australia’s new youth age ban

Social media giants face Australia's groundbreaking under-16 ban next week, yet platforms won’t receive immediate $50m fines despite the laws’ historic scope.

Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells on Tuesday. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Social media companies won’t be slapped with $50m fines straight away and some children will still be on platforms after new laws come into effect next week.

Ahead of Australia’s world-leading under 16s ban in seven days, Communications Minister Anika Wells will tell the National Press Club on Wednesday that while the government isn’t expecting perfection, it will not let social media platforms off the hook.

Under the law, the 10 platforms currently listed by the eSafety Commission have to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from having or creating accounts.

The government is keen to stress that the list is dynamic and all platforms are on notice, including LinkedIn and apps young people are flocking to in droves.

It’s understood eSafety has written to Lemon8, a TikTok-linked app similar to Instagram. Yope and Coverstar have also surged in app store charts and are being monitored.

Ms Wells said on Tuesday: “We have to be agile and dynamic.

“If everybody ends up on LinkedIn, and LinkedIn becomes a place where there is online bullying, predatory algorithms, targeting of 13 to 16-year-olds in a way that is deteriorating their mental and physical health, then we will go after LinkedIn.

“We will be watching the migratory patterns, and we’ll be talking to these companies,” she said.

eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant told Senate estimates the commission had been clear that platforms must make their own assessments about their obligations.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant this week. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

In her speech, Ms Wells will downplay expectations platforms will be hit with $50m fines from next week, saying regulation rarely acts fast, and certainly not that fast.

Instead, from next Thursday eSafety will send notices to the ten platforms named on the list, seeking evidence about how many underage accounts they had before the law started and after.

Platforms will have time to reply, but will be sent information requests for updated figures every month for six months.

“The government recognises that age assurance may require several days or even weeks to complete fairly and accurately,” Ms Wells will say.

Ms Inman Grant said she wants to set expectations that we will take a graduated approach to compliance and enforcement.

“Our focus is on systemic failures by platforms … our priority is determining whether platforms are doing enough to comply and to continuously improve,” she said.

Ms Wells will also acknowledge children are clever and inherently seek to circumvent systems, but it has been made clear to platforms they must work to prevent this.

“With almost 86 per cent of Australian children aged between eight and 15 on social media, we accept it will take time for the age assurance sieve to filter out the existing accounts and stop new accounts from being created,” she will say.

“We know it won’t be perfect from day one but we won’t give up – and we won’t let the platforms off the hook.”

Originally published as Social media firms given enforcement warning ahead of Australia’s new youth age ban