Major social media companies are urging Australian lawmakers to avoid drawing firm conclusions from early data suggesting many children continue to access social platforms despite the country’s landmark under-16 social media ban.
Executives from Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok appeared before a Senate inquiry after several studies indicated that roughly 80% of minors may still be using social media months after the restrictions took effect.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner said the early figures suggest platforms are still struggling to prevent underage users from creating or recreating accounts. However, regulators also pointed to signs of progress, including a decline in the number of suspected underage accounts.
Technology companies argued that the data remains preliminary and that age-assurance systems are still evolving, particularly around identifying users close to the age threshold of 16.
Meta said it has deactivated about 756,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts suspected of belonging to underage users, while Google said roughly 740,000 Google accounts had been prevented from accessing YouTube. TikTok said it initially removed about 550,000 accounts and continues to delete thousands more each month.
Australian lawmakers are now considering tougher enforcement measures, including doubling maximum penalties to A$99 million and expanding regulators’ powers to obtain information from platforms and age-verification providers.
