Australia bans children under 16 from using social media

From December 10, social media companies will have to take “reasonable steps” to ensure Australians under the age of 16 cannot set up accounts on their platforms, and to deactivate or delete existing accounts.

The government said the ban, a world-first policy welcomed by many parents, aims to reduce the “stress and risks” children can face on social media from “design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also providing content that may be harmful to their health and wellbeing”.

A government-commissioned study earlier this year showed that 96% of children aged 10 to 15 use social media, with seven in 10 having been exposed to harmful content and behaviour. This behavior includes misogynistic content, confrontational videos, and content promoting eating disorders and suicide.

One in seven people also reported experiencing grooming behavior from an adult or older child, and more than half said they had been victims of cyberbullying.

So far, the Australian government has designated ten platforms to be included in the ban: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, and streaming platforms Kick and Twitch.

It is also facing pressure to extend the ban to online gaming. Gaming platforms like Roblox and Discord worry they could be targeted Age checks have recently been introduced Some features are clearly designed to avoid being included in the ban.

The government said it will continue to review the list of affected platforms and will consider three main criteria.

These include whether the sole or “significant purpose” of the platform is to enable online social interaction between two or more users; whether users are allowed to interact with some or all other users; and whether users are allowed to post material.

YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and WhatsApp are not included as they are not deemed to meet these standards. Children can still watch most content on platforms like YouTube without an account.

Children and parents will not be punished for breaching the ban – social media companies are responsible for enforcing it and face fines of up to $49.5 million ($32m, £25m) for serious or repeated breaches.

The government said the companies must take “reasonable steps” to keep children off their platforms and use age-guaranteed technology – but did not specify which technologies.

Several possibilities have been suggested, including using government ID, facial or voice recognition, and age inference. The latter uses online information other than birth date, such as online behavior or interactions, to estimate a person’s age.

The government encourages platforms to use a number of different methods. It also said platforms cannot rely on users to declare their age, nor on parents to vouch for their children.

Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, announced Youth accounts will be closed starting December 4th. The company said those who were kicked out in error can verify their age using government-issued ID or providing a selfie video.

Snapchat said users can verify their age using a bank account or photo ID, or they can estimate their age by taking a selfie.

The other affected platforms have not said how they will comply with the ban.

It’s hard to say whether social media bans will be effective without knowing what methods companies will use, but there are concerns that age-guaranteed technology could mistakenly block some users while failing to detect other underage users.

government own report For example, facial assessment technology was found to be least reliable for the exact people it needs to target.

There are also questions about whether fines for infringement are high enough. As former Facebook executive Stephen Scheeler told AAP: “Meta took about an hour and 52 minutes to make $50 million in revenue”.

Critics argue that even if implemented properly, the ban will not actually reduce the online harm suffered by children. Dating sites and gaming platforms are not included, nor are the recent emergence of artificial intelligence chatbots. make headlines Allegedly encouraging children to commit suicide and engaging in “sensual” conversations with minors.

Others note that teenagers who rely on social media for community activities will be isolated and argue that it would be more effective to teach children how to navigate social media.

Communications Minister Annika Wells admitted the ban might not be “perfect”.

“It looks a little messy when you wear it,” she said in early November. “That’s always the case with major reforms.”

Critics have also raised concerns about the massive data collection and storage required for platforms to try to verify users’ ages, and its potential mishandling.

Like much of the world, Australia has been hit by a series of high-profile data breaches in recent years, including several where sensitive personal information was stolen, sold or released.

But the government said the legislation incorporated “robust protections” for personal information. The safeguards state that such information cannot be used for any purpose other than age verification and must be destroyed once completed, with “severe penalties” for violators.

It also said platforms must provide alternatives to using government ID documents for age assurance.

Social media companies were alarmed by the ban, which was announced in November 2024. They believe that the ban is difficult to implement, can be easily circumvented, consumes users’ time, and poses risks to users’ privacy.

They also say it takes children into dark corners of the internet and deprives young people of social contact. Snap and YouTube, which own Snapchat, also deny they are social media companies.

YouTube parent company Google is reportedly still considering whether to launch a legal challenge to the platform’s inclusion. It did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Although Meta announced it would implement the ban early, the ban would leave teenagers with “inconsistent protections across the many apps they use.”

At a parliamentary hearing in October, TikTok and Snap said they still opposed the ban but would enforce it.

Kick, the only Australian company included in the ban, said it would take a “range of measures” and continue to engage “constructively” with authorities.

The ban on social media use by under-16s is a world first and will be watched closely by other countries. Different approaches have been tried elsewhere to limit children’s screen and social media time and prevent them from being exposed to harmful material, but nowhere has a blanket ban been imposed on the platforms.

In the UK, new safety rules New measures introduced in July mean online companies face hefty fines and even the jailing of their executives if they fail to take steps to protect young people from illegal and harmful content.

Other European countries allow social media use under a certain age only with parental consent. September, one French parliamentary inquiry It is recommended that teenagers under 15 years old be banned from using social media and that a social media “curfew” be implemented for teenagers aged 15 to 18 years old.

Denmark has announced plans to ban social media for under-15s, while Norway is considering a similar proposal. The Spanish government has submitted to parliament a draft law for under-16s requiring their legal guardians to authorize their visits.

Meanwhile, Utah’s attempt last year to ban under-18s from using social media without parental consent was blocked by a federal judge.

Teenagers interviewed by the BBC said they opened new accounts with false ages before the ban, despite the government warning social media companies in the hope they would detect such accounts and remove them.

Online, teens also recommended other social media apps or provided tips they hoped would help them get around the ban.

Some teens, including influencers, have switched to joint accounts with their parents. Commentators also predict a surge in the use of VPNs, which hide the country from which a person accesses the internet, as happened in the UK after age control rules were introduced.