Australia Opens Investigations Into Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat Over Under‑16 Ban

Overview

• Australia’s eSafety regulator, which announced the probes Tuesday local time, is examining whether five major platforms are breaking the law that bars under‑16s from using social media.
• Investigators sent formal notices to each company that spell out current concerns and set expectations for fixes, with evidence now being gathered for possible penalties.
• The regulator cited specific failures, including asking children to re‑verify age after stating they are under 16, allowing repeated age tests until a user appears old enough, weak channels to report underage accounts, and poor blocks on child sign‑ups.
• The law allows fines of up to AUD 49.5 million per breach, and the commissioner warned that weak compliance could also damage the companies’ standing with governments and users.
• TikTok declined to comment when asked, and spokespeople for Meta, Google and Snap were not immediately available, in a first public compliance check since the December law that officials said was needed to shield children from predatory algorithms and harassment.