Fines loom for social media giants as kids give ban 100-day fail mark
A hundred days into the under-16 social media ban, the government is keeping quiet on numbers that would reveal how many children have carried on as normal.
After being cut off from her social media accounts when the age ban was implemented, Perth teenager Addison Grant, 13, now has had no trouble logging into them. Trevor Collens
The federal government has admitted there is still a lot of work to do to make its world-leading social media age ban a success, with tech giants put on notice that they will soon be fined for non-compliance, and data showing how many kids have really been blocked kept secret 100 days after the laws started.
In reaction to numerous reports of children easily circumventing the bans, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant says her agency is running an “intensive investigation” to monitor whether companies are taking reasonable steps to detect and deactivate under-16 accounts, and threatening $49.5 million fines.
Tess BennettTechnology reporterTess Bennett is a technology reporter with The Australian Financial Review, based in the Brisbane newsroom. She was previously the work & careers reporter. Message Tess on Signal: @tessbennett.02. Connect with Tess on Twitter. Email Tess at tess.bennett@afr.com
