Australia prepares lawsuits against Facebook, TikTok and YouTube

The Australian government is preparing lawsuits against major social platforms for possible violation of the ban on social media use by children under 16. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube are under threat of prosecution.

This was reported by Bloomberg citing Australia's Communications Minister Anika Wells.

According to the minister, the Australian internet safety regulator eSafety Commissioner is gathering evidence for a possible appeal to the country's Federal Court. The investigations concern the Facebook and Instagram platforms owned by Meta, as well as TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.

Checks on possible non-compliance with legislation began back in March 2026. Authorities are checking whether companies are taking sufficient measures to prevent users under 16 from creating and using accounts.

The reason for tightening control was the results of checks on the effectiveness of age restrictions. In a July report, eSafety noted that most underage users subject to the ban could still keep their accounts or create new ones.

One of the main problems the regulator cited was insufficiently effective age verification mechanisms that allowed bypassing the established restrictions.

For violations of the requirements, companies face fines of up to AUD 109.2 million, or approximately USD 76 million. After the law came into force in late 2025, the Australian authorities doubled the maximum size of financial penalties.

At the same time, the regulator received additional tools for investigations. In particular, the eSafety Commissioner can now demand internal documents from technology companies and summon current and former employees to provide explanations.

According to Wells, these powers are already being used to prepare materials that could become the basis for lawsuits against the five platforms.

The ban on creating and using accounts on major social networks for children under 16 has been in effect in Australia since December 10, 2025. The law obliges digital platforms to take reasonable measures to comply with age restrictions. Responsibility for violations is placed on the companies, not on the children or their parents.

Australian authorities believe that technology companies are not yet sufficiently effective in meeting these requirements. However, final responsibility for possible violations must be established by the court.

At the time of publication, Meta and eSafety representatives did not provide immediate comments to Bloomberg. Companies Snap, ByteDance, and Google also did not respond to the publication's requests.

At the moment, lawsuits are only being prepared. Specific filing dates and possible fine amounts for individual companies have not been announced.

Based on materials: Bloomberg, 20.10.2026, eSafety Commissioner