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Anthony Albanese has flagged a fresh tightening of the country’s world-first social media restrictions, saying the federal government would go further to curb harmful online content amid growing concern about the impact on young Australians exposed to pornography, “nudify” apps and violent material.
The prime minister said the government was planning a further strengthening of the under-16 social media ban and broader online safety laws, as evidence mounts that many children continue to access major platforms more than six months after the landmark restrictions came into force.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Albanese said Australia could not allow technology companies to operate without greater accountability as concerns intensified about the influence of online content on children and young men.
Albanese singled out the emergence of artificial intelligence-powered “nudify” applications, which can generate sexually explicit images, and said the government was actively considering tougher measures.
“We’re seeing increased presentations in our hospitals of young women who have been choked, strangled,” he told the House of Representatives. “We see anal tearing growing at an extraordinary, horrific rate because what too many young men are seeing online is normalising behaviour that is anything but normal.”
“We need to be conscious as a parliament about this. We need to be courageous about this.”
He said while the law now allowed for fines of $49.5 million for breaches of the social media ban aimed at young people, he said it was clear “we are going to need to do more”. He cited an already foreshadowed digital duty of care that would place broader obligations on technology companies to identify and mitigate harms across their services.
A government source confirmed a “significant” announcement was expected within days.
Albanese said Australia had led the world with its under-16 social media ban, claiming another 16 countries were now pursuing similar approaches. The United Kingdom this month announced plans to introduce restrictions on social media access for children under 16 by next year.
But the flagship policy’s effectiveness has been questioned as under-age teens find their way back on platforms.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, recently described the laws as a “very blunt force approach” and said the legislation had been developed “very quickly” with only “very thin scaffolding”.
She told this masthead she did not “have potent powers” and a “regulator is only as good as the tools and the resources that they’re given”.
The ban, which took effect in December, requires platforms including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube to prevent Australians under 16 from holding accounts.
Inman Grant said the number of under-16 accounts had fallen by 37 per cent over three months but the regulator’s own compliance reporting found about 70 per cent of children who had accounts before the ban were still using major platforms. Inman Grant acknowledged many were never asked to verify their age.
Research from the University of Newcastle also found four out of five Australian young people reported still accessing social media in the months after a ban took effect, claiming there was “insufficient evidence of any substantive early effects”.
The eSafety Commissioner is investigating several major technology companies for potential breaches and has retained external lawyers for possible enforcement action, although no fines have yet been issued.
It announced in March it was focusing its compliance and enforcement effort on investigations into five platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube – and aimed to decide on any enforcement action by the middle of the year.
Albanese said the government was considering Inman Grant’s recent comments and revealed that they would require a further strengthening of the social media ban.
“We need to be courageous about this,” he said. “There’s more to do.”
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Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.From our partners
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