Australia Weighs AUD 99 Million Social Media Penalties as eSafety Seeks Broader Age-Ban Powers
Updated
Updated · ABC News · Jul 29
Australia Weighs AUD 99 Million Social Media Penalties as eSafety Seeks Broader Age-Ban Powers
3 articles · Updated · ABC News · Jul 29
Summary
Early research found most Australians under 16 can still log into at least one banned platform, sharpening pressure on Canberra to toughen enforcement of the social media age law.
Labor's bill would let eSafety compel documents from platforms and third parties and double maximum penalties to AUD 99 million for systemic failures to take reasonable steps.
Age-verification providers backed the expansion and urged mandatory independent audits, saying eSafety cannot verify whether platforms properly configured age-check systems without access to records.
The Law Council and tech lobby DIGI said the draft powers are too broad, warning they could inadvertently capture children or parents and should come with tighter limits and more transparency.
A Senate inquiry is reviewing submissions ahead of an August report, with X already among companies attacking the proposal on privacy, legal and international-law grounds.