Australia will introduce new laws in parliament on Monday to strengthen its under-16 social media ban and give its internet regulator more power to pursue tech giants in court for non-compliance.
The move follows the world-first restrictions that took effect in December, a policy being watched closely by many countries seeking to emulate it as evidence suggests children are still able to access the platforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were still too many children on social media and tech firms were not doing enough to comply with the law.
"We're calling time on the social media companies today and doubling down on the changes that we have made and that we're prepared to make," he told reporters in Canberra.
"Today, we'll introduce legislation this afternoon that goes further to ensure social media companies are doing everything within their power to stop children under 16 being on their platforms."
The regulator is investigating possible non-compliance by five platforms: Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat , TikTok and Google's YouTube.
There was no immediate comment from Meta, Google and Snapchat. TikTok declined to comment.
Albanese called on the conservative coalition opposition to back the bill, noting the original policy passed with bipartisan support.
The changes, announced on Sunday, would double fines to A$99 million ($68.2 million) from A$49.5 million.
They also give the eSafety Commissioner power to compel documents such as company board minutes and internal emails, ensuring legal cases being built against platforms failing to comply are as "strong as possible", said Communications Minister Anika Wells.
"My message to Big Tech is this: we are not stopping. Every effort you make to frustrate these laws will be met with our efforts to make these laws work," she said.
"If the eSafety Commissioner finds companies are not doing everything they can to comply, they will face the full force of the law."
"We can all agree we would like the scheme to work better than it is currently, but that is on Big Tech taking the Mickey," Wells told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., using an Australian slang term for deceiving, teasing or mocking.
Senior opposition lawmaker Jane Hume said her party would consider voting for the reforms, saying the "social media ban wasn't working" because of deficient laws.
"The legislation was clearly undercooked in the first place. The eSafety Commissioner wasn't given the powers to be able to pursue these Big Tech companies," Hume said.
Parliament passed the initial legislation with overwhelming support in 2024. The targeted platforms were given more than 12 months to plan to implement the ban.
eSafety reported in March that seven in 10 children who held accounts on restricted platforms on Dec. 10 remained on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.