World · Malaysia Bureau
Australia to sue Facebook, TikTok over teen ban compliance failures
Australian authorities are pursuing legal action against Meta and ByteDance for allegedly breaching the country's social media age restrictions. An official review found the platforms failed to prevent minors from creating or maintaining accounts despite age verification requirements.
LSN Malaysia ·
Australia's eSafety Commissioner is set to take Facebook parent company Meta and TikTok owner ByteDance to court over alleged violations of the nation's social media age restriction law, which prohibits users under 16 from accessing major platforms.
The legal action follows an investigation in July that revealed widespread non-compliance with the age verification requirements. The report found that most underage users were able to circumvent age checks, either retaining existing accounts or establishing new ones on the platforms.
The Australian government introduced the age restriction legislation to protect young people from potential harms associated with social media use. The enforcement action signals Canberra's commitment to holding technology companies accountable for compliance with the landmark legislation.
The case is expected to set a precedent for how governments globally can enforce social media age restrictions. Australia has become a bellwether for strict tech regulation in the Asia-Pacific region, with other nations watching the outcome closely.
Meta and ByteDance have previously stated their commitment to age verification and child safety measures, though questions remain about the effectiveness of their technological solutions.