Australia Says Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube Are Not Fully Enforcing Under-16 Social Media Ban, Considers Legal Action

Australia’s online safety regulator has found major social platforms are still accessible to children under 16 despite a world-first law. Authorities are gathering evidence for possible fines or court cases.

Melbourne | March 31, 2026: Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has flagged that global social media giants including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube are not fully complying with the country’s landmark law banning under-16s from holding accounts, heightening tensions between regulators and tech firms. The concerns were detailed in the first compliance report since the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 came into force on 10 December 2025, which requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to exclude Australian children younger than 16.

The regulator found that while over 5 million underage accounts have been deactivated, a significant number of minors have managed to retain or recreate accounts by bypassing existing age-verification systems. Features such as repeated attempts to pass age checks and ineffective safeguards have allowed younger users to slip through, prompting the watchdog to seriously question the platforms’ efforts

Australia’s Communications Minister Anika Wells accused the companies of doing “the absolute bare minimum” to enforce the regulations and deliberately undermining the law in hopes that it would fail and dissuade other nations from adopting similar child protection measures. The eSafety Commissioner is now compiling evidence to potentially pursue legal action in federal court against these platforms, with possible fines of up to A$49.5 million (approximately US$33 million) per breach for systemic non-compliance.

Platforms such as Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Kick and Twitch were reportedly not under investigation and are considered to be in better compliance. Meta representatives reiterated their commitment to complying with the law but acknowledged that accurately determining users’ ages online remains a complex industry-wide challenge. Both TikTok and Google-owned YouTube had not immediately responded to requests for comment.The law, regarded as a global first in setting a minimum age for social media access, is being closely watched internationally as other countries consider similar safeguards for children’s online safety.

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