The short version

Key points

  • The ACCC’s broadband monitoring devices reportedly top out at around 1Gbps because they use gigabit Ethernet ports.
  • At least 38 test services on NBN Co’s 2Gbps tier cannot currently be measured at their full speed by the ACCC’s equipment.
  • The EU fined X €20 million over alleged deceptive paid blue-check schemes and shortcomings involving advertising and researcher data transparency.
  • Australia’s under-16 social media restrictions require platforms to remove accounts belonging to children under 16 and prevent new underage sign-ups.
  • The ban’s rollout has reportedly been inconsistent across platforms, while age-verification systems can be bypassed or produce different results.

NBN’s 2Gbps plans have outpaced the ACCC’s speed tests

NBN Co has introduced home internet plans offering download speeds of up to 2Gbps, or 2,000Mbps. However, the ACCC’s broadband monitoring programme currently relies on SAM Knows white-box devices that top out at around 1Gbps.

The limitation is linked to the devices’ gigabit Ethernet ports. As a result, at least 38 test services on the 2Gbps tier cannot be measured at their full potential using the ACCC’s current equipment. The regulator reportedly has no immediate upgrade plan or budget for replacing the devices.

This means the ACCC cannot independently verify the complete performance of those services with its existing hardware. The issue concerns the measurement equipment rather than a stated finding that the NBN plans cannot deliver their advertised speeds.

EU fines X over transparency and paid verification concerns

The European Union has fined X, formerly Twitter, €20 million under the Digital Services Act. The reported concerns included deceptive paid blue-check schemes and a failure to provide adequate transparency about advertising and access to user data for researchers.

EU officials said the practices misled users and undermined trust. The penalty was described in the report as the first major fine of its kind against X under the EU’s rules.

The fine followed a separate €2.95 billion penalty imposed on Google by Brussels three months earlier in a monopoly case. Together, the cases show the EU continuing to use financial penalties and platform rules to challenge the conduct of major technology companies.

Australia’s under-16 social media restrictions face rollout challenges

Australia’s under-16 social media restrictions require covered platforms to remove accounts belonging to children under 16 and block new sign-ups by underage users. Platforms that fail to comply face potential fines of up to $50 million.

The report says implementation has been uneven. A child may be removed from one service while continuing to access another, because platforms do not share a single enforcement system or common source of truth. This creates inconsistent outcomes across services such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat.

Age verification has also presented challenges. Facial age checks can reportedly be defeated or affected by filters, lighting, the use of an older sibling, or repeated attempts. The restrictions therefore rely heavily on individual platforms to enforce the rules, rather than on one shared system.

Early results remain mixed

The report notes that there have been reports of teenagers bypassing restrictions, but few reports of people over 16 being incorrectly banned. It also says the expected concerns about widespread adult lockouts and large-scale surveillance have not materialised in the way some critics predicted.

Parents and child-development experts have reportedly welcomed the move, despite the clumsy rollout, while technology companies have criticised it as draconian and harmful to their businesses. The early experience highlights the difficulty of applying a single age rule across services with different systems and verification methods.

TechManPat’s conclusion

I see these stories as examples of regulation struggling to keep pace with technology: the ACCC’s equipment cannot fully measure some of NBN’s fastest plans, the EU is imposing major penalties on large platforms, and Australia’s social media restrictions are exposing weaknesses in age verification and cross-platform enforcement. In my view, the under-16 ban is neither the seamless solution nor the authoritarian disaster some predicted; it is a fragmented system that still depends on platform responsibility, parenting and common sense.
Source note

This knowledge-centre summary is based on the linked TechManPat video and reflects the information available when it was published. Check current pricing, availability and policies before acting.