Australians under 16 are to be banned from having accounts on most social media platforms as their country becomes the first in the world to introduce the hardline policy.
Supporters of the ban say it has already influenced social media giants to clean up their acts, but there are concerns that tech-savvy children will easily be able to dodge the restrictions.
Reducing ‘pressures and risks’
From 10 December, 10 platforms will become age-restricted – Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch and Kick. The definition of what constitutes social media has been a matter of debate: Twitch was added to the list but Pinterest won’t be. Under-16s will still be able to see publicly available content on the platforms but they won’t be able to have their own accounts or see logged-in content.
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There will be penalties of up to A$49.5 million (£25 million) for companies that fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply. With only a week to go before the ban comes into effect, Australian teenagers are receiving notifications on Instagram and Facebook, advising them to save their data before access to their accounts is revoked.
The Australian government says the ban is intended to reduce the “pressures and risks” children can be exposed to on social media. It follows a study commissioned by the government that found that 96% of children aged 10-15 used social media, and that 70% had been exposed to harmful content and behaviour.
Supporters say the ban is already working. What “appears to drive self-regulation” among social media giants is “the credibility of the threat of government”, said Timothy Koskie on ABC, so the Australian government’s “muscular and maximalist” approach has “already achieved results”.
Meta announced “teen accounts” for Instagram in September 2024, TikTok and Snapchat expanded their age-related account controls, and YouTube has further restricted access to streaming for teens.
But it’s a “no-brainer” that children will migrate to other platforms, such as gaming apps with chat functions, where “you can still engage with people”, an internet studies professor told The Nightly. Australia’s national independent regulator and educator for online safety, the eSafety commissioner, has urged exempt platforms to report spikes in users and to enhance age checks and safety protocols.
Furthermore, age verification technology is not infallible. A joint study by the University of Melbourne and Princeton University found that teenage volunteers were able to pass checks with tricks including “pointing the camera at video game characters, pulling silly facial expressions, as well as cheap disguises”, said ABC. VPN providers “are also expecting a surge in Australian users”.
