Australia flags noncompliance

Australia’s online safety regulator says Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube still are not fully enforcing the country’s ban on social media accounts for children under 16. (esafety.gov.au) The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said on March 31, 2026 that the five platforms had taken some steps since the rules took effect on December 10, 2025, but children were still keeping accounts, opening new ones and getting past age checks. (esafety.gov.au) In eSafety’s March 2026 compliance update, the regulator said more than 5 million accounts had been removed, deactivated or blocked from sign-in since December, including more than 310,000 additional age-restricted accounts at the start of March. (esafety.gov.au) Australia’s system puts the burden on platforms, not parents or children. Services designated as age-restricted social media platforms must take “reasonable steps” to prevent Australian users under 16 from holding accounts. (esafety.gov.au) The regulator has not said the companies are definitively in breach yet. It said it is gathering evidence for possible enforcement action, which can include formal notices and court proceedings. (esafety.gov.au) The crackdown is being watched outside Australia because other regulators are tightening child-safety rules at the same time. In the United Kingdom, Ofcom finalized child-safety measures in April 2025 and said platforms would need stronger age checks and safer feeds for children from July 2025. (ofcom.org.uk) Australia’s law is narrower than the British regime in one way and tougher in another. The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act focuses on reducing harmful content for under-18s, while Australia’s social media minimum age rules require under-16 account holders to be kept off covered services altogether. (gov.uk) (esafety.gov.au) Meta said it was committed to complying, but said accurate age determination online is an industry-wide challenge. Snap said it had locked 450,000 accounts and was continuing to lock more, according to statements reported by The Associated Press. (abcnews.com) Communications Minister Anika Wells accused the companies of doing “the absolute bare minimum,” while platforms have argued that age assurance is technically difficult and can catch legitimate users by mistake. (abcnews.com) (ofcom.org.uk) The next test is whether eSafety turns its concerns into court action. Australia has moved from passing the law to measuring results, and the regulator is now saying the results are not good enough. (esafety.gov.au)