THE AUSTRALIAN government plans to strengthen its under-16s social media ban, as children are continuing to access platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

“We’re working on that as a priority because this is something that other generations didn’t have to deal with, which is why it’s complex,” Mr Albanese told Parliament on Thursday.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday that the government was asking “are the laws as strong as possible?” and did eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s online safety watchdog, “have every power at her disposal?”

Ms Inman Grant said in April that she was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, alleging they were not doing enough to keep young Australian children off their platforms.

These platforms, as well as X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch, face fines of up to $49.5 million (£25.8m) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of young children.

Information sciences expert at Melbourne’s RMIT University, Lisa Given, said the government’s proposed reform was a response to evidence that the ban was failing.

The evidence included eSafety’s own data, released in March, showing seven in 10 underage children have continued to hold accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok since December.

Ms Given also pointed to a study published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday that found 85 per cent of a group of Australian 12 to 17-year-olds were using restricted platforms.

“I do think it’s failing,” Ms Given said. “Many kids in the media have reported that they also think that this is really a failed exercise.”

She told The Sydney Morning Herald in early June that “I don’t have potent powers.”

“What I would say is a regulator is only as good as the tools and the resources that they’re given,” she said.