The Australian government has proposed new laws to increase financial penalties and give the eSafety Commissioner more power to enforce the social media ban for children under 16.

澳洲政府已提議新法案，旨在增加罰金並賦予 eSafety 專員更多權力，以強制執行 16 歲以下兒童禁用社交媒體的禁令。

These changes are being introduced because the government believes current rules are not working. Specifically, they plan to double the maximum fine to 99 million AUD for platforms that fail to use reasonable age-restriction tools. Furthermore, the eSafety Commissioner will be able to demand internal company documents, such as emails and board meeting notes, from social media companies and age-verification services. Companies that refuse to provide this information could face fines of up to 1.65 million AUD.

之所以推出這些變更，是因為政府認為目前的規定並不奏效。具體而言，針對未能使用合理年齡限制工具的平台，最高罰金將翻倍至 9,900 萬澳幣。此外，eSafety 專員將有權要求社交媒體公司和年齡驗證服務商提供內部文件，例如電子郵件和董事會會議記錄。拒絕提供此類資訊的公司可能面臨最高 165 萬澳幣的罰款。

Data shows a gap between what companies claim and how the platforms are actually used. Although five million accounts were closed after the ban started on December 10, reports from March show that 70% of underage users on apps like TikTok and Instagram are still active. Consequently, the government has stated that the current reporting system is not good enough, as the eSafety Commissioner had to rely on the honesty of the tech companies.

數據顯示，公司的聲稱與平台的實際使用情況之間存在差距。儘管禁令於 12 月 10 日生效後有 500 萬個帳號被關閉，但 3 月的報告顯示，TikTok 和 Instagram 等應用程式中 70% 的未成年用戶依然活躍。因此，政府表示目前的申報制度並不完善，因為 eSafety 專員此前必須依賴科技公司的誠信。

Different political groups have different views on this issue. The Labor government wants the laws passed quickly, and the opposition is willing to support them because the original rules were too weak. However, the Greens argue that the laws are flawed and that the government should instead regulate how data is collected and how algorithms work. In response, Meta has explained that it uses AI and visual technology to find underage profiles, but the government insists that these improvements are not sufficient.

不同的政治團體對此議題看法不一。工黨政府希望法案能儘快通過，而反對黨也願意支持，因為原有的規定過於寬鬆。然而，綠黨主張這些法律存在缺陷，政府應轉而監管數據收集方式及演算法的運作。對此，Meta 解釋其使用 AI 和視覺技術來偵測未成年帳號，但政府堅持認為這些改進仍不足夠。

The Australian government is now working to strengthen its laws to make sure technology companies follow the minimum age requirements for social media.

澳洲政府目前正致力於強化法律，以確保科技公司遵守社交媒體的最低年齡要求。