Underage Users at Meta, Snap Show Large Australian Breaches
- Study indicates over 1 million underage social media users
- Findings show lack of preparation for Australia’s under-16 ban
Under the new law, digital platforms in Australia will themselves be responsible for enforcing the higher age limit, with penalties of as much as A$50 million ($32 million) for breaches.
Photographer: skynesher/E+/Getty Images
Meta Platforms Inc., TikTok, Snapchat and other leading social media platforms probably have more than 1 million underage users in Australia, a regulatory report said, highlighting the scale of policy failure at the companies before the country enforces unprecedented user age limits this year.
About 80% of children in Australia aged between 8 and 12 used at least one platform in 2024, research by the country’s eSafety Commissioner released Thursday showed. The findings indicate social media companies are allowing about 1.3 million kids nationwide to flout their own rules barring under-13s from their platforms, the regulator said.