Facebook, instagram, tiktok, youtube under fire for failing to keep underage aussies off platforms

Australia's eSafety regulator has slammed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube for not doing enough to prevent minors aged 16 and under from accessing their platforms, sparking alarm bells in the first formal assessment of the tech giants' response to the world-first measure.

Esafety expresses 'deep concern' over platforms' compliance

In its first compliance report, published Tuesday, eSafety expressed deep concern over the companies' compliance with the law and pointed to significant deficiencies in their age control measures. According to the regulator, there are no sufficient security measures in place to prevent minors from creating new accounts, with some platforms allowing under-16s to repeatedly attempt age verification methods until they succeed.

The law came into effect on December 10, 2025, and failure to comply could result in fines of up to AU$49.5 million (US$34 million). eSafety has begun gathering evidence for potential legal action.

The report highlights concerns that minors will find ways to evade age controls and that tech companies are reluctant to stop them. The move follows a landmark ruling last week in which Meta and Google were ordered to pay damages to a 20-year-old US woman who claimed her mental health was severely impacted by her addiction to social media, raising fears the companies could face a similar reckoning to the tobacco industry.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement: