Why Australia’s Social Media Ban for Teens Isn’t Stopping Them

Australia introduced a law in December 2025 to stop kids under 16 from using social media. The goal was to protect young teens from online harm. Big platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and X had to block underage accounts or verify user ages.

But here is the thing: the ban hasn’t worked as planned. A study surveyed 408 Australian teens aged 12 to 17 before and three months after the law started. It found more than 85 percent of teens under 16 still used social media apps despite the ban. Between 54 and 68 percent kept using their accounts as usual.

Most teens ran into some form of age verification when logging in. The most common checks were simple. Between 24 and 39 percent faced self-declaration of age, where they just had to say how old they were. Others, about 13 to 27 percent, passed by uploading a selfie. These checks didn’t block underage users effectively.

Many teens found ways around the rules. Around 15 to 19 percent used fake accounts. Between 9 and 29 percent logged in using someone else’s account. About 11 percent used private browsers to avoid restrictions. Very few teens said they used VPNs.

Social Media Use Stayed Mostly the Same

Looking at daily social media habits, 12- and 13-year-olds kept using social media at the same rate even after the ban. Their daily use stayed stable. For 14- and 15-year-olds, daily use dropped from 78 percent to 69 percent. Meanwhile, teens over 16 used social media more, increasing from 80 percent to 89 percent daily.

Time spent on social media per day didn’t change much for the youngest and oldest groups. But it dropped for 14- to 15-year-olds at the follow-up. This shows the ban affected some older teens but had little impact on younger ones.

Challenges and Responses

The study pointed out that the first months after the law began showed limited implementation and lots of ways to get around the rules. “The findings suggest that the period immediately after introduction of the act was characterised by limited implementation, incomplete compliance and substantial circumvention of social media restrictions,” the study said.

Experts say it’s too soon to say the policy has failed. Child and adolescent psychiatrist Prof Dennis Ougrin said, “It is too early to conclude that the policy has failed.” Still, the ban alone won’t keep kids safe online. The UK’s NSPCC child protection charity said, “A ban alone will not keep all children safe from harm online.”

Polling in March 2026 showed about six in 10 kids aged 12 to 15 who had accounts on restricted platforms still had access. Seven in 10 of those children said it was easy to get around the ban. This highlights how hard it is to control online spaces for teens.

Other countries are watching closely. The UK plans to start a similar ban for under-16s by early 2027. They say they will use stronger age-verification checks. French MPs have passed a law banning under-15s from social media. The UAE also plans to ban children under 15 from social media within the next year.

The Australian government requires social media companies to take “reasonable steps” to stop under-16s from holding accounts. But the current methods, like self-declaration and selfies, are easy to bypass. Until better verification tools arrive, many teens will keep slipping through the cracks.

Keeping kids safe online is complex. Laws alone don’t stop determined users. It takes a mix of technology, education, and care from families, platforms, and governments. The Australian ban is a start, but the battle to protect young users is far from over.