Australia DSA amendments and five EU states mandate age gates for under-16s by Q4 2026

Australia passed the Amendment on 17 June 2026, imposing AUD 49.5 million maximum penalties per breach and requiring third-party age assurance within six months. France’s implementing decree for the 2023 Child Online Safety Law and Spain’s draft Royal Decree both reference the same technical standards. Five additional EU states tabled identical provisions under the DSA child-protection article 28, creating a de-facto bloc standard.

Australian eSafety Commission data from the 2025 pilot showed 87 percent of 13-15-year-olds held active accounts on at least two major platforms. EU Commission impact assessment 2025/1842 estimated 72 million under-16 accounts across the five states. Both documents cite internal Meta and TikTok compliance filings indicating current self-declaration yields 14-19 percent accuracy.

The measures form a coordinated enforcement pattern rather than isolated national actions. Australia’s code directly references the EU’s age-verification reference architecture published March 2026. Regulators in both jurisdictions now share audit templates and vendor shortlists, accelerating vendor lock-in for a narrow set of accredited providers.

Platforms must publish quarterly compliance metrics starting Q1 2027 or face graduated fines reaching 6 percent of global turnover under the DSA and equivalent Australian provisions. Non-compliant services face removal from app stores in participating jurisdictions.