The Australian government has introduced draft legislation to increase financial penalties and expand the investigative powers of the eSafety Commissioner regarding the enforcement of the social media ban for individuals under 16.

澳洲政府已提出法案草案，旨在增加罰金並擴大電子安全專員（eSafety Commissioner）在執行 16 歲以下人士社交媒體禁令方面的調查權限。

The proposed legislative amendments are predicated on the perceived inadequacy of current compliance mechanisms. Specifically, the government intends to double the maximum penalty for platforms failing to implement reasonable age-restriction measures to 99 million AUD. Furthermore, the eSafety Commissioner would be granted the authority to compel the production of internal corporate documentation—including board minutes and electronic correspondence—from both social media entities and third-party age-verification providers. Non-compliance with these information requests may result in fines of up to 1.65 million AUD.

擬議的法律修正案是基於目前合規機制不足的考量。具體而言，政府打算將未能採取合理年齡限制措施之平台的最高罰款額提高至 9,900 萬澳幣，增加一倍。此外，電子安全專員將獲權要求社交媒體實體及第三方年齡驗證供應商提供內部公司文件，包括董事會會議紀錄與電子郵件。若不遵守此類資訊要求，最高可能面臨 165 萬澳幣的罰款。

Historical data indicates a discrepancy between institutional claims and actual platform usage. While approximately five million accounts were deactivated following the December 10 implementation, eSafety reports from March suggest that 70% of underage users on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok remained active. Consequently, the administration has characterized the current reporting regime as insufficient, asserting that the eSafety Commissioner was previously reliant upon the veracity of self-reported data from technology firms.

歷史數據顯示，機構聲稱的情況與平台實際使用情況存在差距。雖然在 12 月 10 日實施後約有 500 萬個帳號被停用，但 3 月的電子安全報告顯示，Facebook、Instagram、Snapchat 及 TikTok 等平台上的未成年用戶仍有 70% 保持活躍。因此，政府將目前的報告機制定調為不足，並主張電子安全專員先前過於依賴科技公司自行報告數據的真實性。

Stakeholder positioning remains varied. The Labor government seeks expedited passage of the laws, while the opposition has indicated a willingness to support the reforms, citing the original framework as insufficiently robust. Conversely, representatives from the Greens have argued that the legislation is fundamentally flawed, suggesting that the mitigation of harm requires the regulation of data harvesting and algorithmic design. In response to these pressures, Meta has detailed its utilization of artificial intelligence and visual detection technology to identify underage profiles, although the government maintains that systemic improvements have not materialized.

持份者的立場各異。工黨政府尋求加速通過法律，而反對黨則表示願意支持改革，理由是原始框架不夠強健。相反地，綠黨代表則認為該立法有根本性缺陷，建議緩解傷害需要對數據採集與演算法設計進行監管。面對這些壓力，Meta 詳細說明了其如何利用人工智慧與視覺偵測技術來識別未成年帳號，但政府仍堅持系統性的改善尚未實現。

The Australian government is currently seeking to strengthen its legal framework to ensure technology companies adhere to the minimum age requirements for social media access.

澳洲政府目前正尋求強化其法律框架，以確保科技公司遵守社交媒體存取的最低年齡要求。