MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia plans to double potential fines for social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, who fail to prevent Australian children from holding accounts as critics argue the world-first ban on under-16s was failing.
Communications Minister Anika Wells on Monday blamed the platforms’ resistance to the age restrictions for the need to toughen the laws that came into force on Dec. 10.
“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.
The government announced Sunday it would introduce draft legislation into Parliament this week that would double the maximum fine to 99 million Australian dollars ($68 million) for platforms that fail to take reasons steps to prevent Australian children from holding accounts.
The amendments would also increase the powers of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s online safety watchdog, to demand information and documents to ensure platforms were complying with Australian law, a government statement said.
The new powers would also include information from third parties, such as age assurance technology providers, to test claims made by the platforms about how those under 16 continued to circumvent the ban, the statement said.
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.
Many countries who have implemented or are planning similar restrictions have been closely watching progress of Australia’s ban.
The government initially reported more than 5 million children had accounts removed, deactivated or restricted after the ban became law.
But 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.
Inman Grant said in April she was considering court action against those platforms and YouTube, alleging they were not taking reasonable steps to exclude children.
She had been satisfied with progress made by the remaining restricted platforms: X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch.
Wells said she had received monthly updates from eSafety since March and “we are not seeing improvements.”
“These (draft) changes ensure that the eSafety Commissioner has the tools and powers she needs to hold platforms to account and we’re making sure that she can do just that,” Wells said.
FILE - A logon screen for Facebook and the new Meta policy are photographed in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
BOSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran singled home the winning run to cap a three-run rally in the 10th inning after Boston blew a two-run lead in the ninth, and the Red Sox finished a four-game sweep of the rival New York Yankees with a 5-4 victory Sunday night.
Boston starter Sonny Gray took a no-hitter into the eighth against his former team before Amed Rosario singled with one out. That ended a brilliant outing for Gray, who had nine strikeouts to reach 2,000 for his career.
But the Yankees scored twice in the ninth off All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman to tie it 2-all, aided enormously by a brutal throwing error from two-time Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu.
New York scratched across two more runs in the 10th, taking advantage of another throwing error by Abreu after Rosario's sinking liner squirted out of his glove for an RBI single. But right-hander Fernando Cruz (4-3) was unable to hold the lead after closer David Bednar had pitched the previous two innings.
Boston's first four-game sweep of the Yankees at home since 2018 marked the first four-game winning streak this season for the last-place Red Sox.
New York arrived at Fenway Park with the best record in the American League but left a game behind Tampa Bay atop the AL East.
Anthony Seigler led off the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single that trimmed Boston's deficit to 4-3. Pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida followed with a double before a sacrifice fly by Tsung-Che Chung tied it at 4 and advanced Yoshida to third.
New York brought in Rosario from left field to form a five-man infield, and Duran hit a line drive to right where nobody was standing.
Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. was ejected for arguing after he was called out on a check-swing for strike three to end the sixth.
Yankees LHP Ryan Weathers (3-5, 3.95 ERA) faces Detroit RHP Casey Mize on Monday as New York returns home and opens a three-game series against the Tigers.
Boston is scheduled to start LHP Ranger Suarez (3-3, 2.83) against Washington LHP Andrew Alvarez on Monday to open a three-game set at Fenway Park.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras celebrates after scoring on a two-run single by Caleb Durbin in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston Red Sox's Sonny Gray tips his hat to the crowd as he exits the game after giving up a hit in the eighth inning after pitching seven innings without a hit against the New York Yankees in a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran, left, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off one-run single in the tenth inning of a baseball game to win against the New York Yankees, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran, right, celebrates in front of New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells, left, after hitting a walk-off one-run single in the tenth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran, right, celebrates in front of New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells, left, after hitting a walk-off one-run single in the tenth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
