Wells says Meta faces the teen ban’s first court test

By James Dore · 2026-10-20

From investigation to the Federal Court

Communications Minister Anika Wells said in an interview in Sydney on Monday that she expects legal action against all five platforms eSafety began investigating in March: Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, plus TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube. The evidence-gathering is aimed at the Federal Court, she said, and the commissioner is "now using those powers to prepare her case." No filing date has been given. Meta and eSafety had no immediate comment, and Snap, TikTok and Google did not reply to requests.^[1]

The law, in force since 10 December 2025, requires platforms to take "reasonable steps" to stop Australians under 16 from holding accounts.^[2] Wells had already signalled the move at the National Press Club on 15 October, when she said "platforms are failing to comply with the law" and "We won't flinch at holding tech companies to account."^[1]

The compliance record

The government reported more than 4.7 million accounts deactivated in the ban's first two days. By late March, eSafety had found some platforms let users keep retrying age checks until they passed, some did too little to stop removed teens opening new accounts, and some lacked clear ways for parents to report underage users. A survey of 898 parents in late January found about a third of children still had social media accounts, down from half before the ban.^[2] Wells said then that if eSafety found systemic failures she expected the commissioner to "throw the book" at the companies.^[2]

An eSafety report in July found most underage users could keep existing accounts or create new ones, largely because age checks were not effective.^[1] The government has since doubled the maximum penalty for a breach to A$109.2 million, up from $49.5 million, and given eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant power to demand documents and summon current or former employees.^[1][2] The Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2026 received assent on 11 September.^[4]

What it means for marketers, agencies and creators

For brands and agencies, the case turns on the same question as the law: what counts as "reasonable steps" for age checks. A court ruling that retry-until-you-pass checks fall short would push platforms toward harder age gates, and every Australian campaign, creator deal or influencer brief that relies on reaching teens on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat or YouTube would be planned against a smaller, better-verified audience. Until a filing lands, the practical step is the one the regulator is already taking: documenting what each platform does with a failed age check.

The fight may not stop at social media. In Parliament on 12 October, Wells said parents are "worried about how they can protect their kids on other platforms like online games and like AI chatbots."^[3] For Australian marketers who moved youth budgets to gaming and chat-based channels after the ban, that is the next place to watch.

James Dore

James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.