Australia toughens kids' social media ban, doubles potential penalties for tech firms

Ems-forster-productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images Australia said on Saturday ⁠it would double the maximum penalty it can impose on tech firms found to have failed to uphold a ground-breaking social media ban for children, as evidence ​mounts that the ban has had ​little effect on teen use. The government will ​also strengthen the information-gathering powers of its internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, allowing it to compel social media companies to provide evidence of what they have done to prevent under-16s from getting accounts. Under the changes, the maximum penalty for systematic failures to uphold the ban jumps ⁠to ‌A$99 million ($68 million) from A$49.5 million. The government reiterated that eSafety is actively investigating ⁠possible non-compliance by five platforms: Meta's Instagram and Facebook, Google's YouTube, Snap's Snapchat, and TikTok. Australia's six-month-old ban is being closely watched by many nations seeking to emulate it due to concerns about the impact of social media on youth mental and physical health. Britain this month said it planned restrictions that go further, with gaming and live-streaming platforms also affected. "I'm heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we've seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it's clear big tech are not doing ​enough to comply with the law – there are still too many children on social media," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. …