Australia's under 16 social media ban under microscope at home and abroad
"The social media feeds that once connected us are now driving us apart. Social media algorithms are flooding young men’s feeds with radical misogynistic content, inciting real-world harm.'...
Many question if restrictions are a good idea and will they work
Originally published on Global Voices
Screenshot: CNN YouTube video – Millions of Australian children just lost social media. What is happening?
The much anticipated teen social media ban began in Australia on 10 December 2025. Its introduction was popular a year ago when legislation passed parliament but has also been controversial with many Aussies. Many question whether it will work and possible harmful unintended consequences.
So far ten platforms have been identified by the Federal government with the assistance of the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant: Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. They are ‘required to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from having accounts on their platforms’.
WhatsApp and Roblox are among those not included. Lesser known Yope and Lemon8 have been gaining users but are under scrutiny and have been asked to self-assess. Yope is photo-sharing app. Lemon8 has photos and videos and is a potential competitor with Instagram. The Coverstar app is promoting itself as ‘space designed for creativity, positivity and safety’ with ‘No DMs and no creeps’.
The Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) campaign has 4 criteria for selection:
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- the sole purpose, or a significant purpose, of the service is to enable online social interaction between two or more end-users
- the service allows end-users to link to, or interact with, other end-users
- the service allows end-users to post material on the service
- material on the service is accessible to, or delivered to, end-users in Australia
The bans apply to all users under the age of 16. Those with existing and new accounts will be banned.
There is a lot of interest overseas. The U.S. Congress wants the eSafety commissioner to testify at the Committee on the Judiciary. The chair Jim Jordan wrote to her, accusing the dual Australian/U.S.A citizen of being a “zealot”. It is not known whether she will testify before the committee. There have also been suggestions that Donald Trump may retaliate over the social media bans and other laws regulating the digital economy.
Teen voices have flooded the internet. 14 year-old Zoey has gained quite a following for her anti-ban stance. Over 1.6 million views watched this SBS News TikTok post. Zoey advocates for parents to help manage their accounts:
@sbsnews_au All eyes are on Australia to see how our world-first social media ban plays out in the coming days. All users under the age of 16 will be barred from a wide range of platforms. From 10 December, companies will need to show they're doing enough to eject or block children under 16 or face penalties of up to $50 million. But teenagers, parents and experts are divided, with many saying the new law is far from perfect. Read more @sbsnews_au (link in bio)
Teach Us Consent, which campaigns against sexual violence, wants the government to go further:
The social media feeds that once connected us are now driving us apart. Social media algorithms are flooding young men’s feeds with radical misogynistic content, inciting real-world harm.
We’re calling on the Australian Government to act, and introduce an opt-in feature for social media algorithms so we can bring affirmative consent to our screens, and turn our feeds on and off at will.
Many of the accounts which have been posting about the ban are being removed by the platforms so their views will be deleted as well.
Platforms are trying to verify age by various means. Cam Wilson is Crikey’s tech reporter. Unfortunately, Crikey is behind a paywall but he can be followed on Instagram where he has posted extensively about the ban.
He is also on BlueSky where he mentioned one of the many ways being used to get around the restrictions:
Teens are posting online about using VPNs to get around the under 16s social media ban, as VPN makers and people selling these services target Australians with advertisements and how to guides. But the government has told tech companies they need to thwart these efforts.
www.crikey.com.au/20…
— CAMERON WILSON (@cameronwilson.bsky.social) December 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM
In addition to the many voices raising human rights considerations and the right to freedom of expression, there have been legal actions to stop the ban. Lawsuits against the government include one by Reddit and another by two teens. Each is taking their challenge to the High Court.
The ABC’s Behind the News (BTN) is a news program for 10-13 year-olds. Their last show for 2025 focused on the experiences and opinions of young people:
BTN: “The majority of you [70%] say it is not a good idea and it won’t work”.
There has been massive overseas mainstream media interest. In this video Reuters interviewed Aussie teens about their views:
The BBC has similar video coverage here.
AAP canvassed the age verification methods being used by the tech giants and appeal processes, including facial scanning, ID ans bank card checks. They also raise issues with misidentification: “Concerns are mounting tech giants will wrongly identify kids as adults when age verification checks begin…”.
Leo Puglisi founded what became 6 News on YouTube when he was 11 years-old in 2019. The Public Interest Journalism Initiative interviewed Leo before the ban came into effect:
Puglisi warns harmful online content will still be visible to young people browsing without accounts, or with their parent’s log-in details.
He also thinks the ban risks pushing young people to ‘underground’ platforms that are less monitored than mainstream social media, and is concerned about what kind of personal information Australians will be forced to hand over to companies like X and Meta for age-confirmation.
In 2024 trans election reporter for 6 News, Maggie Perry, gave their take on the ban to Daniel James on the 7am podcast:
I think it can harm a lot of people. Like thousands of kids would be left alone and disadvantaged and kind of stranded because a lot of them already use social media as their home. You know, somewhere they could connect with people. So when you cut that off from a lot of these kids, it'll be very shocking and very disruptive to their lives, especially if they don't have many friends in person or are a bit of an outsider in their community or something. Social media is just so vital.
At The Conversation, Joel Scanlan from the University of Tasmania discussed how platforms can be made safer:
…we need safety by design. This principle demands that safety features be embedded in a platform’s core architecture. It moves beyond simply blocking access, to questioning why the platform allows harmful pathways to exist in the first place.
…Platforms can start making meaningful changes today by considering how their platforms could facilitate harm, and building in protections.
Initial teething problems with the ban’s rollout such as teens getting around the restrictions are not deterring authorities:
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant declared she’d “play the long game” on compliance as teens bragged about already circumventing the restriction.
Let’s give humour the last say. Juice Media’s Honest Government Ads can still be seen by under 16s who are barred from YouTube, as an account is not necessary to view videos on the platform. Here’s their take on the social media ban:
The pinned comment by Juice Media strikes a much more serious tone:
Look out for your young people as the social media ban comes into effect on Dec 10. We've pulled the rug out from under them and some will need help. So please talk to your kids and keep a caring eye out for the young people in your life We know many Australians, especially parents, support this ban. Their concern for their children on social media are valid (as parents ourselves, we share those concerns) and something absolutely needs to be done. But our kids deserve better than this; they deserve leaders who'll fight for them against industries that profit from their harm – and not just Big Tech, also the gambling and fossil-fuel industries. So let's keep pushing for reforms that do that; and which protect not just our kids but all of us, our societies and democracy. We can do this. But right now, the main message we want to get out is: look out for the young people in your life as the ban comes into effect.
Matt Golding, Museum of Australian Democracy’s Political Cartoonist of the Year 2025, captured the moment on BlueSky:
Australia’s world-first teen social media ban begins.
— goldingcartoons.bsky.social (@goldingcartoons.bsky.social) December 10, 2025 at 8:48 AM
