A new study by Australia’s internet regulator has revealed that more than eight in 10 young Australian teens and preteens are continuing to use social media platforms despite the government’s prohibition for children under 16. The ban, which made Australia the first country in the world to restrict social media access for minors, came into effect on December 10 last year.
Here is what we know about how it is going. Australia’s internet regulator, eSafety, found that more than eight in 10 Australian under-16s are continuing to use social media despite being banned from doing so. The report also found that most of those children aged 10 to 15 were using social media just as frequently in March as they had been before the ban came into force.
At the time the new rule was introduced, experts warned that enforcing it would be extremely difficult. Enforcement is proving to be difficult in the days leading up to the ban and beyond. “Most under-16s who had social media accounts before commencement were able to either retain them or create new ones at the three-month mark, with social media platforms’ failure to implement effective age assurance measures cited as the main reason,” eSafety reported.
About half the children who retained their accounts said platforms had not checked their age, the most common reason they were able to stay on the services. Others said that their accounts listed them as aged 16 or older or that age-checking systems had incorrectly determined they were older. However, several months later, it now appears that youngsters have been able to open new accounts with relative ease.
Prior to the ban, nearly 86 percent of children surveyed reported using at least one age-restricted platform. Three months later, that figure remained above 81 percent, the eSafety report said. Around 58 percent of teenagers reported using social media daily, the report found. Before the ban, the number was roughly 60 percent, showing minimal change in daily habits.
The report showed minimal change in “sports and physical activity, arts and music, spending time with friends and family, and attendance at community events.” Joanna Orlando, a researcher in digital wellbeing and the author of Generation Connected: How to Parent in a Digital World, told Al Jazeera in December last year: “Tech-savvy teens simply use VPNs, fake birth photos for face scans, or migrate to less regulated platforms.”
In December 2025, Australia prohibited children under 16 from using social media platforms. Video game platforms are not included in the ban. The government said this was prompted by increasing concerns about the effects of cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, and self-harm content on the mental and physical health of children.
Under the law, 10 of the biggest social media platforms face $33m in fines if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to block Australian-based users younger than 16. As of January 16, social media companies had revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children in Australia, according to officials.
“We stared down everybody who said it couldn’t be done, some of the most powerful and rich companies in the world and their supporters,” Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells stated during the national debate. Days after Australia’s ban took effect, Reddit, one of the 10 platforms required to block minors, lodged a challenge to the ban in the High Court.
Beyond Australia, AI can also amplify pre-existing societal prejudices, according to Ayo Tometi, co-creator of the US-based antiracist movement Black Lives Matter. Children worldwide are also worried about the misuse of AI for online child sexual exploitation and “deepfakes,” according to research by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on children’s perspectives and AI, which it published in October 2025.
Other nations are following suit with similar regulatory ambitions. In the United Kingdom, the government has announced that it also plans to introduce a ban on social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram from spring 2027 onward. In November 2025, Denmark’s government said it also plans to prohibit social media platforms for children under 15, saying it had secured majority support in parliament.
Around the same time, Malaysia said it would ban social media accounts for people under 16 from this year. In April, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis formally announced plans to prohibit social media access for children under 15 from January 1, 2027, subject to parliamentary approval. These global moves highlight a growing international trend toward stricter digital oversight for younger demographics.
The ban has been “an important game changer in the conversation among parents”, Leigh said in televised remarks.
“We never expected that this would have 100 percent compliance.
We don’t get 100 percent compliance out of minimum drinking age laws, but it’s still appropriate that we have that law on the books.”
While social media has long provided easy access to unregulated and often harmful content, misinformation and hate speech, the recent explosion of AI‑generated material poses new risks to the wellbeing of children and young people, experts say.
The American Psychological Association published an advisory last year warning that generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems can amplify harmful content such as violent or sexual videos.
It also added that adolescents are less likely than adults to question the accuracy of AI-generated content.
“They may also be unaware of the persuasive intent underlying an AI system’s advice or bias,” the advisory stated.
Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Signal, educational tools, and e-commerce and music streaming will be excluded.
Source: Aljazeera
