- Australia's e-safety commissioner has warned platforms like Meta, YouTube and TikTok of "major gaps" in their enforcement of the social media ban for under-16s, nearly four months after the law came into effect.
- The legislation, one of the world's toughest digital restrictions, requires 10 large social media networks, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, to prevent under-16s from having accounts or face fines up to A$49.5m.
- Despite platforms blocking about five million age-restricted accounts, the commissioner's report highlighted issues such as enabling repeated age verification attempts and a lack of effective reporting pathways for parents.
- The e-safety watchdog is currently investigating potential non-compliance by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, saying that proving non-compliance requires demonstrating a failure to take reasonable steps.
- Meta responded by acknowledging that accurately determining a user's age is an industry-wide challenge, suggesting robust age verification and parental approval at the app store as the most effective solution.
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