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The Australian government, which became the first in the world to implement a social media ban for minors late last year, is pushing to expand enforcement measures, including legal action and new legislation, after finding that platforms are failing to adequately comply with the rules.
According to reports from the Associated Press and other outlets on June 27 (local time), Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated in parliament on June 25 that the government is reviewing plans to strengthen social media restrictions.
In an interview with the Australian public broadcaster ABC the previous day, Prime Minister Albanese said the focus would be on empowering the eSafety Commissioner, the online safety regulator responsible for overseeing the social media ban, to ensure the office can fully perform its duties.
"What we are doing is ensuring that the legislation is as robust as possible and can withstand any legal challenges that might be mounted," he said, adding that he is reviewing whether eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has all the necessary powers.
To this end, he announced plans to pursue a "digital duty of care" bill that would hold platforms, including social media companies, accountable for foreseeable harms caused by their content and algorithms.
The Australian government's move comes as studies suggest that many teenagers are still using social media, even half a year after the ban on accounts for those under 16 was implemented.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), which surveyed 408 Australian adolescents aged 12 to 15, found that 85 percent were still using social media three months after the ban took effect.
The paper reported that about two-thirds of the study participants bypassed age verification processes by providing false information or using techniques such as makeup to appear older in selfies to be verified as 16 or older.
While some social media platforms have introduced age verification measures like facial recognition, teenagers are easily bypassing them, and a significant number of young users reported never having been asked to verify their age by the platforms at all.
Lisa Given, a professor of information sciences at RMIT University in Melbourne, told the AP that the eSafety Commissioner is struggling to enforce the law due to resistance from platforms, adding, "The eSafety Commissioner needs more power, or there needs to be a different approach to how the law is enforced."
Consequently, authorities are preparing legal action against social media companies, citing provisions that allow for fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (approximately 52.4 billion KRW) for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts.
In March, eSafety Commissioner Inman Grant announced that she had launched an investigation into Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google (YouTube), Snapchat, and TikTok over allegations that they violated the law by failing to take sufficient measures to block accounts for minors.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, Meutya Hafid, stated that since the country introduced similar measures at the end of March this year, approximately 4.7 million social media accounts belonging to users under 16 have been deactivated.
She noted that TikTok had deactivated 4.1 million accounts and YouTube 600,000, adding that she expects other companies to follow suit.
"We are not just looking to slow down children's access (to social media), but we also want the platforms' behavior to change," she added, noting that the government is currently reviewing self-assessment reports from the relevant companies.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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