Australia is looking into Facebook, TikTok and YouTube in the context of potential violations of the under-16 social media ban in the country, and it claimed on 31st March that the big tech companies had “disregarded the laws,” which are the best in the world.

In December, Australia blocked under-16s on a host of the most popular social media platforms in the world, claiming to safeguard young minds against the “predatory algorithms” of sex and violence.

Three months after the historic legislation was enacted, the Australian online safety regulator discovered that a “significant number of Australian children” were accessing prohibited websites.

“The reason why the world-leading social media laws in Australia are not working is not because of failure. However, big tech is not complying with the legislation,” Communications Minister Anika Wells told reporters.

“Australia will not allow the social media giants to mug us.”

The eSafety Commission of Australia expressed “great concern” regarding Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.

“None of this is impossible. None of this is even difficult for big tech, which are innovative billion-dollar companies,” Wells said.

“In case these businesses are interested in conducting business in Australia, they have to comply with Australian laws.”

By mid-2026, Australia would determine any punishments.

The laws impose fines of up to $33.9 million (Aus$49.5 million) on tech companies.

The eSafety Commission has said that more than five million accounts of underage Australian users have been removed since the laws were implemented.

An increasing amount of literature indicates that excessive online time is costing the well-being of teenagers.

The ban by Australia has been termed a godsend to the parents who are fed up with watching children on their phones.

It has also attracted attention around the world – Malaysia, France, New Zealand and Indonesia are some of the countries that are now considering taking such action.

Even though social media firms have promised to comply with the laws, they have cautioned that the actions might push children into unregulated and dark areas of the internet.

Prove it

Facebook and Instagram are owned by a parent company called Meta, which stated that it had been “a challenge to the entire industry” to accurately prove the age of users.

It mentioned that “it would continue to invest in enforcement to identify and eliminate under-16 accounts.”

Image-sharing platform Snapchat claimed to be “wholly devoted to taking reasonable measures by the legislation and had thus far blocked 450,000 accounts.”

TikTok responded that it had nothing to comment on, and no response was received to questions on YouTube.

It is the sole responsibility of the social media companies to ensure that users in Australia are 16 years and above.

They will need to demonstrate that they have made some “reasonable efforts” to filter young teenagers, though it is not clear how this will be deciphered by the government.

Certain platforms have claimed it would apply AI technology to approximate the age using photos, with users also having the option to verify their age by uploading a government ID.

Online discussion board Reddit has brought a legal appeal against the ban implemented by Australia, which it referred to as “legally flawed.”

The US-based company added that there were grave privacy issues that came with platforms confirming age, where personal data gathering posed a threat of leakage or hacking.

Reddit’s challenge is yet to be heard in Australia’s High Court.