Australia could take social platforms to court over under-16 ban

Australia expects some of the world’s biggest social platforms to face legal action over alleged failures to enforce its under-16 social media ban.

The country’s eSafety Commissioner is gathering evidence as part of investigations into Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, with Communications Minister Anika Wells saying she expects the five cases to reach the Federal Court.

Asked by Bloomberg whether court action could be expected against the platforms, Wells said: “Yes. It’s not my decision, but I would expect it.”

The investigations began earlier this year over whether the platforms were taking reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts, as required under legislation that came into force in December 2025.

The government has since strengthened the regulator’s enforcement powers and doubled the maximum penalty for breaches to A$109.2 million.

Wells said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant was now using those additional powers to build evidence as part of the investigations.

“She has more powers to be able to gather the evidence that she needs to take those five companies to the Federal Court,” Wells said.

The prospect of court action would mark a significant test of Australia’s world-first approach, which puts responsibility on social platforms to prevent under-16s from maintaining accounts rather than penalising children who circumvent the restrictions.

Despite millions of accounts being removed or restricted since the law took effect, eSafety has found a substantial proportion of under-16s continue to retain accounts, create new ones or pass platforms’ age checks.