The commissioner of Australia’s online watchdog has defended a lack of fines against social media companies after the Albanese Government’s under-16s ban. Source: News.com.au.
eSafety has been probing compliance of 10 major social media platforms since the ban came into effect on December 10, 2026.
Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant told a Senate estimates hearing yesterday “complex investigations” into compliance of the platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, was ongoing.
“In our March regulatory update, we indicated we were concerned about industry compliance. Since then, we have continued our investigations and have seen some improvements,” she said.
“However, we have not yet reached a final determination on whether platforms are taking reasonable steps, which is the highest standard we must prove under the legislation.”
Ms Inman-Grant acknowledged there was “a strong interest in why fines have not yet been issued”.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a fine issuing button,” she said.
“Rather, systemic non-compliance needs to be proven in court with solid evidence and complex legal proceedings.”
Ms Inman-Grant said there had been “early indications of progress” among social media sites.
“By March, we reported there had been a 37 per cent reduction in the number of under-16s holding accounts, with parents consistently reporting much more constructive conversations with their children about online risks and social media use,” she said.
“Today, I can inform the committee that since our March compliance update and direct engagement with individual platforms, we have seen improvements and reversal of some of the poor implementation practices we identified.
“For instance, some platforms have recently taken steps to restrict or age verify accounts that had increased their stated age to 16 in the lead up to or shortly after December 10, to identify further underage users who still had accounts on their platform.”
Ms Inman-Grant said there had also been a reduction in administrative hurdles which “stifle” reports by parents, while other services had raised their age rating on app stores.
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‘Don’t have a fine-issuing button’: eSafety chief defends lack of fines for social media companies (By Nathan Schmidt, News.com.au)
