CANBERRA, September 22 — The Trump administration has intervened in Australia’s effort to keep under-16s off social media, objecting to a law that would fine platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook for systemic breaches. The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 passed the Australian Parliament in November 2024 and is scheduled to take effect in late 2025.
It requires the platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from holding accounts, with penalties of up to A$49.5 million (about US$32 million) for systemic breaches. Enforcement rests with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant.
The US intervention, reportedly led by the State Department and the US Trade Representative’s office, argues that the law could disadvantage American tech companies and set a precedent for other countries. The Australian embassy in Washington and the State Department have not publicly commented on the specifics, but officials from both countries have said they are in dialogue.
A rare public objection to an ally’s domestic rulebook
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has defended the law as a necessary child-safety measure, citing mental-health harms associated with social media use among adolescents. The legislation followed a parliamentary inquiry and consultation with mental-health experts, and it came after voluntary industry codes that the government deemed insufficient. The dispute has strained US-Australia relations, which are anchored in the ANZUS treaty signed in 1951 and the AUKUS pact announced in 2021.
The intervention is rare because the US typically avoids publicly criticizing allied nations’ domestic regulations, though it has previously objected to digital services taxes in France, Italy and other countries.
How the ban would work
The eSafety Commissioner has stated that age-assurance technologies, such as age estimation and verification, will be used to enforce the ban. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about data collection. The US tech industry, including the Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, has lobbied against the Australian law, arguing it could lead to a patchwork of regulations globally.
The Australian government has received support from some child-safety advocates, including the eSafety Commissioner and groups like the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, which have long campaigned for stricter online protections for minors. The outcome could influence how other nations approach social media regulation.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act already impose stricter rules on platforms. The Australian law is set to be reviewed after two years, and the government has said it will monitor its effectiveness. The intervention may also affect trade discussions.
Australia and the US have deep economic ties, with two-way trade in goods and services worth about US$77 billion in 2023. The story was first reported by Reuters.
What to watch next is whether the State Department and the USTR press the objection through trade channels, and whether other governments weighing minimum-age rules read the Australian experiment as a template or a warning.
