Australia accuses social media giants of disobeying social media ban

• Australia's e-safety commissioner has warned platforms like Meta, YouTube and TikTok of "major gaps" in their enforcement of the social media ban for under-16s, nearly four months after the law came into effect.
• The legislation, one of the world's toughest digital restrictions, requires 10 large social media networks, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, to prevent under-16s from having accounts or face fines up to A$49.5m.
• Despite platforms blocking about five million age-restricted accounts, the commissioner's report highlighted issues such as enabling repeated age verification attempts and a lack of effective reporting pathways for parents.
• The e-safety watchdog is currently investigating potential non-compliance by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, saying that proving non-compliance requires demonstrating a failure to take reasonable steps.
• Meta responded by acknowledging that accurately determining a user's age is an industry-wide challenge, suggesting robust age verification and parental approval at the app store as the most effective solution.

IN FULL

Australia warns social media platforms of ‘major gaps’ in enforcing under-16 ban