Australia Plans Tougher Fines Over Social Media Age Ban.

Communications Minister Anika Wells on Monday blamed the platforms’ resistance to the age restrictions for the need to toughen the laws that came into force in December. The government announced Sunday that it would introduce draft legislation into Parliament this week to double the maximum fine to 99 million Australian dollars ($68 million) for platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children from holding accounts.

The amendments would also increase the powers of e Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s online safety watchdog, to demand information and documents to ensure that platforms are complying with Australian law, a government statement said. The new powers would also cover information from third parties, such as age assurance technology providers, to test claims made by platforms about how children under 16 continue to circumvent the ban, the statement said.

"We can all agree we would like the scheme to work better than it is currently, but that is on Big Tech taking the Mickey," Wells told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., using an Australian slang term for deceiving, teasing or mocking.

Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume said her party would consider voting for the reforms, saying the "social media ban wasn’t working" because of deficient laws.

Parliament passed the initial legislation with overwhelming support in 2024. The targeted platforms were given more than 12 months to plan how to implement the ban. The government initially reported that more than 5 million children had accounts removed, deactivated or restricted after the ban became law. But the e Safety Commissioner reported in March that seven in 10 children who held accounts on restricted platforms in December still had access.

Many countries that have implemented or are planning similar restrictions have been closely watching the progress of Australia’s ban.