‘Enforcement mode’: Australia must take fight to tech giants to make social media ban stick, experts warn

The government needs to switch into “enforcement mode” and take on tech giants over its social media ban after doubling fines, experts have warned. The federal government announced on Sunday it would introduce new legislation to double fines to $99m for platforms that breach the social media ban, and give the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, stronger information-gathering powers. Research this month suggested the majority of under-16s were bypassing age restrictions. The government said more than 5m accounts have been removed, deactivated or restricted since the ban was introduced on 10 December. But Catherine Page Jeffery, a senior lecturer in media and communications at the University of Sydney, said it was clear the government needed to do more to crack down on the platforms. She said digital duty of care legislation would help protect all users from the harms of social media. “It is still early days yet not much has changed for under-16s with about 80% still stating they remain on social media,” she said. “Stronger enforcement mechanisms are clearly needed, but there’s no point in doubling the penalty if the regulator doesn’t enforce them, and move into the enforcement mode.” Page Jeffery said the under-16s ban eroded the rights of young people online, and that the platforms should be held more accountable for the content they carried. …