Australia will double fines on platforms that flout the rules to curb the widespread evasion of one of the world’s strictest bans on social media use by under-16s, the government said on Saturday (27 June).
The new law raises the maximum fine for systemic or major breaches to A$99 million (about Tk 837 crore). It also gives the online watchdog, e-Safety, greater powers to keep platforms in check, the government said.
In a statement, the government said the independent regulator was “actively investigating” possible breaches by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “It is clear the tech giants are not taking enough steps to comply with the law — there are still far too many children on social media.” He added that the changes reflected how seriously the government took any failure by social media companies to comply.
Minors are evading the ban by using accounts registered in adults’ names, creating fake accounts or logging in through private browsers.
Many other countries that have already imposed or are considering similar bans — including the United Kingdom, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand — are watching the success of Australia’s ban with keen interest.
An early peer-reviewed evaluation of Australia’s measure, published in the British Medical Journal this month, found “insufficient evidence” that it had had much effect on teenagers’ social media use. Researchers surveyed more than 400 young people just before the ban took effect and three months later, finding that they were evading the rule on a wide scale. There was little change among 12-13-year-old users, while use fell somewhat among 14-15-year-olds and rose among those aged 16 or above.
The government says it is clear the regulator needs more powers, even though more than 5 million accounts of under-16s have been blocked since the ban took effect on 10 December. Under the new law, the e-Safety commissioner can require social media companies to prove what measures they have taken to prevent under-16s from opening accounts, and can demand information and documents from third parties such as age-verification or app-store services to check the platforms’ claims.
Australia’s communications minister, Anika Wells, said she was not satisfied that the platforms were taking enough action. “Based on regular updates from the e-Safety commissioner, it is clear to me that social media platforms are using the old playbook of big tech companies and doing the bare minimum to get away with it,” she said. “Social media platforms are among the richest and most powerful companies in the world, and we are determined to hold them to account.”
Research shows that spending too much time online is harming teenagers’ mental health, and Australia’s ban has been seen as a blessing by parents frustrated at children being glued to their phone screens. Although the platforms have promised to comply with the law, they have warned that the measures could push teenagers into the darker, unregulated corners of the internet. The companies bear sole responsibility for verifying whether Australia-based users are 16 or older, and must prove they have taken “reasonable steps” to remove younger teenagers. Some platforms are using artificial intelligence to estimate age from photos, and users can also prove their age by uploading a government ID.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report