Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube aren’t fully complying with child account ban, Australia says

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s online safety watchdog said Tuesday it was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms. Experts say the Australian courts could decide what steps the platforms can reasonably be expected to take under the laws that took effect on Dec. 10 banning young children from holding accounts. Julie Inman Grant, who is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, on Tuesday released her first compliance report since those laws took effect demanding 10 platforms remove all Australian account-holders younger than 16. Meta set to spend $750K backing Illinois statehouse candidates as AI and social media legislation looms While 5 million Australian accounts had been deactivated, a substantial number of Australian children continued to retain accounts, create new accounts and pass platforms’ age assurance systems, the report said. Inman Grant said in a statement her office had “significant concerns about the compliance” of half of those 10 platforms. Her office was gathering evidence against the five that they had not taken “reasonable steps” to prevent young children holding accounts. Courts could order fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for
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