Australia’s online safety watchdog on Tuesday said it is considering court action against Meta, Snap Inc, TikTok and Alphabet Inc, alleging they are not doing enough to keep children under 16 off their platforms.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant released her first compliance report since the law took effect on Dec. 10, calling on 10 platforms to remove all Australian account holders younger than 16.
The report said that although around 5 million Australian accounts had been deactivated, a significant number of children were still able to retain accounts, create new ones and bypass age assurance systems.
Inman Grant said her office had “significant concerns” about the compliance of half of the platforms and was gathering evidence to determine whether they failed to take “reasonable steps” to prevent underage users.
Courts could impose fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (about $33 million) for systemic non-compliance. A decision on possible legal action is expected by midyear.
Platforms not under investigation include Reddit, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch.
Communications Minister Anika Wells accused some platforms of doing the bare minimum to comply with the law, saying they do not want the legislation to succeed.
The watchdog identified “poor practices” such as allowing unlimited attempts to pass age verification and prompting users to retry even after declaring themselves underage.
Meta said it is committed to complying with the law but acknowledged that accurately determining users’ ages remains a challenge.
Snap Inc said it had locked 450,000 accounts in line with the rules and continues to take action.
TikTok declined to comment, while Alphabet did not immediately respond.
Lisa Given of RMIT University said courts would ultimately decide what constitutes “reasonable steps,” noting that age-verification technologies are not fully reliable.
Reddit has filed one of two constitutional challenges to the law in Australia’s High Court, along with the Digital Freedom Project, arguing it infringes on implied freedom of political communication.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 21 to set a date for further proceedings, Reddit said.
