{"id":656,"date":"2026-06-29T16:39:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=656"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:39:56","slug":"australia-ups-the-ante-in-under-16-social-media-ban-as-kids-find-workarounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=656","title":{"rendered":"Australia Ups the Ante in Under-16 Social Media Ban as Kids Find Workarounds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Australia is tightening the leash on social media companies.<\/p>\n<p>According to new legislation introduced in parliament, the Australian government will double the maximum penalty imposed on social media companies that fail to comply with the ban on users under age 16. Per the new rules, companies can be slapped with close to $69 million (99 million Australian dollars) in penalties, far more than the previous $34 million (roughly 50 million Australian dollars).<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=654\">DOJ Shuts Down Nearly 400 Sites Hosting Illegal World Cup Live Streams<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The government is also proposing to expand the powers of the eSafety Commissioner, the agency in charge of enforcing the ban, by allowing it to compel internal company documents for any legal cases it might bring against platform operators. The eSafety Commissioner is currently investigating potential non-compliance by Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on the regular updates I receive from the eSafety Commissioner, it is clear to me that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by,\u201d Australia\u2019s minister for communications, Anika Wells, said in a press release. \u201cSocial media platforms are some of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, and we\u2019re serious about holding them to account.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Back in December, Australia became the first country to enact a landmark social media ban for users under 16. Driven by data and studies showing adverse mental health effects stemming from years of exposure to addictive and harmful social media design and algorithms, teens and children were banned from a list of platforms that includes TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, Kick, and Twitch.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Since then, dozens more governments around the globe have proposed bans inspired by Australia\u2019s crackdown, much to the chagrin of the Trump administration, which has made protecting Silicon Valley interests a key part of its foreign affairs policy. Most recently, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom joined that list. The UK\u2019s ban is set to be more restrictive than Australia\u2019s when it goes into effect next year.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=652\">Jackery Wants to Stick AI Between Your Solar Panels and Electrical Grid<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That might be for good reason.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian government has said that more than 5 million accounts have been removed, deactivated, or restricted since the ban went into effect. But still, teens are finding it relatively easy to skirt the ban, whether it be via VPNs or through shockingly simple tricks like drawing a moustache on their face for selfie age-verification scans. The eSafety Commissioner also shared earlier this year that seven out of 10 parents surveyed said their teens were still on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, despite the ban.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Those stats shaped the government\u2019s recent decision to toughen the rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we\u2019ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it\u2019s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law \u2013 there are still too many children on social media,\u201d Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in the press release. \u201cThese changes reflect the seriousness with which we take any failure by social media companies to comply with our world-leading law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All four of the social media platform operators that are currently under investigation by the Australian eSafety Commissioner are also embroiled in legal controversy in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>A bellwether case claiming that deliberate addictive design choices in social media platforms got kids hooked and exacerbated serious mental health outcomes went to trial in California in March. ByteDance and Snap settled ahead of trial, but Meta and Google were promptly handed a major defeat when the jury ruled that they were liable. That verdict created the legal basis for further litigation, marking a watershed moment that has since enabled thousands more social media addiction lawsuits in California that name ByteDance, Google, Meta, and Snap as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/longhaulmovingpros.com\/?p=650\">Meta Reportedly Got Too Addicted to Google AI Tokens and Had to Be Cut Off<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Social media companies can face double the fines if they fail to comply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Australia Ups the Ante in Under-16 Social Media Ban as Kids Find Workarounds - 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