Aussie Watchdog Cracks Down on Social Media Giants

0:00It's March 30th. I'm Cory with the story, and this is Sydney News. Today, your AI-powered local news. Australia's online safety watchdog is cracking down on five big social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube for possibly. Dodging the under-16 user ban, now almost four months since the law dropped. The E-Safety Commissioner drops a full update Tuesday, spotlighting how these apps let kids keep retrying age checks until they sneak through, or spin. Up new accounts after getting booted, plus skimpy tools for parents to flag underage users. Minister Anika Wells is laying down the law, saying if these giants blew off their duties big time, expect massive fines up to $49,000,000, because doing business down under means playing by Aussie rules. Early on, companies deactivated over 4,700,000 accounts in the first two days and showed some real effort, even though they fought the ban hard, and now they got a hand over

1:03compliance data. Lately, the rules expanded to snag 10 platforms with endless scrolls, likes or banishing stories like threads, X, Reddit, Kick, and Twitch. Wow. Spots like Discord and Roblox stay out for now. The commissioners watching every move to keep kids safe.