Social media platforms now face AUD$99m fine for non compliance in Australia, which could have a knock-on effect on advertisers maintaining spend in the channel.
Australia has doubled the penalty for platforms that do not enact adequate measures to keep children from their platforms under its notorious social media ban for under-16s.
Five platforms are now under investigation: TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube – and the fine for non-compliance has doubled to (AUD)$99m (roughly £51m).
The Australian government reports that over five million accounts for under-16s have been removed, restricted, or deactivated since the ban was enacted.
“I’m heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we’ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age,” says Australian PM Anthony Albanese, “but it’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law – there are still too many children on social media.”
This could point to a lack of co-operation from tech companies, who have been resistant to the widespread blanket bans, claiming it will push children away from safe and curated platforms towards more anonymous services.
A Meta spokesperson. said: “As we’ve seen in Australia, bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives that lack built-in protections and parental controls.”
The rising resistance
The glaring issue with this argument is these platforms are already seen as a dangerous place for children. In fact, legal action across the US and beyond has seen tech giants like Meta settle in cases where it is accused of designing its platforms to be addictive, causing harm to young users.
In fact, Meta has asked congress for immunity from child safety lawsuits as it pre-empts thousands of pending child safety cases relating to social media use.
The fact is that social media platforms are resistant to enhanced protections for children and young users, and this is for a number of reasons. The obvious is that a large proportion of their user bases are under the age of 16, and fewer users would mean less ad revenue – and some social platforms aimed specifically at children are at risk of collapse.
Secondary to this though, is the potential knock on effect for future adult users. A California jury found that both YouTube and Meta were designed to be addictive – so collecting a young user base ensures a steady flow of users who become hooked on the platforms before they can really understand the dangers.
A moving market
This puts advertisers in a difficult position, especially those who have products aimed at young people or rely on younger users to help drive brand awareness.
Traditional advertising techniques are difficult to tailor to teenagers – with young people watching almost seven times less TV than over 65s. Much of their viewing is dominated by streaming platforms, which usually features a ‘pay to remove ads’ feature (although this is fading).
There are indications the current concerns may go beyond just social media, too. From 27 June, phones have been legally banned in schools across the UK, illustrating the appetite for harm reduction could extend to screen time as a whole.
This would further restrict the options available for advertisers, who could be forced to focus on channels which have less targeting capabilities such as out-of-home, display or television.
It could also have a knock-on effect to influencers and creators, who use social media as key source of generating revenue in partnership with brands and affiliates.
