Australia's prohibition on children's use of social media is not succeeding. The Senate postponed the solution.

      TL;DR: Australia's Senate blocked proposed amendments aimed at reinforcing the country's pioneering child social media ban, resulting in an eight-week inquiry into the bill. Since the ban was enacted in December, 70% of children with accounts on the affected platforms remain active.

      On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized senators who obstructed amendments to the nation’s groundbreaking social media ban for minors, cautioning that this delay may allow tech companies to eliminate evidence against them. The conservative Liberal Party, along with the minor Greens party, referred the legislation for an eight-week Senate inquiry on Thursday.

      These amendments aimed to enhance the authority of the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s online safety regulator, to enforce the ban that prohibits children under 16 from having accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube since December.

      The enforcement gap

      While the ban appeared effective initially, with the government reporting over five million accounts of under-16 users removed, deactivated, or restricted shortly after its implementation on December 10, the actual situation is different. In March, the eSafety Commissioner revealed that seven in ten children still held accounts on restricted platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok when the ban commenced. Many had simply claimed they were over 16 or submitted selfies that passed the platforms' verification processes.

      In April, Commissioner Inman Grant indicated she was contemplating legal action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, accusing them of failing to take adequate measures to keep children out. She noted satisfactory progress with five other restricted platforms: X, Kick, Reddit, Threads, and Twitch.

      Changes proposed by the amendments

      Under the current law, the commissioner can request information from platforms but not specific documents. The proposed amendments would allow her to require internal records, board meeting minutes, and communications detailing how platforms have acted in response to the ban. Additionally, the bill would empower the commissioner to request information from third parties, including age verification technology providers, to verify the platforms' claims regarding underage users bypassing the rules. Maximum fines would increase from A$49.5 million to A$99 million ($68 million).

      “If it had passed yesterday, that would have marked the date from which the commissioner could have made these demands,” Albanese stated to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Fines could then be imposed.”

      Who opposed the amendments and their reasoning

      The centre-left Labor government lacks a Senate majority. The Liberal opposition and the Greens, who have consistently opposed the ban, collaborated to advance the bill to an inquiry despite having previously backed the original legislation in 2024.

      Opposition communications spokesperson Sarah Henderson contended that the proposed amendments should be “tougher,” labeling the ban as “a half-baked law which is poorly designed, rushed, badly implemented, and ineffective.” Greens Senator David Shoebridge challenged the necessity of doubling a fine that had never been imposed.

      The global trend

      Australia’s difficulties have not deterred other nations from emulating its approach. In June, the UK announced plans to prohibit under-16s from accessing social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, with restrictions anticipated to come into effect by spring 2027. France, Denmark, Spain, and various other European countries have also introduced or proposed similar age restrictions. However, they will all face the same challenges Australia has encountered over the past seven months.

      Implementing the law is the easier part; ensuring compliance from platforms, proving non-compliance, and establishing effective age verification systems that protect privacy are the significant hurdles every child safety initiative faces. Communications Minister Anika Wells reported this week that she has been receiving monthly updates from the eSafety Commissioner since March, adding, “We are not seeing improvements.”