Myth busting Australia’s teen social media restrictions

CANBERRA — Australia’s social media restrictions came into effect in December 2025, triggering a domino effect across the globe as countries in Europe and Asia debated or adopted similar rules. Together these legal reforms form the biggest regulatory and cultural overhaul faced by tech platforms since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation came into effect in 2018. Here’s how things are playing out in Australia — and some of the biggest questions surrounding the restrictions’ implementation. What is the political background to the Australian law? Australia’s then-Opposition Leader Peter Dutton pledged in June 2024 to raise the social media access age to 16 within 100 days of becoming prime minister. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, pressured to match the commitment, adopted the policy in November 2024 and rushed a bill through Parliament later that month. This happened against a backdrop of advocacy by parts of the media, public figures and parents whose children had suffered or died by suicide after social media bullying. The Senate committee tasked with examining the legislation received roughly 15,000 submissions. The Greens and most crossbench members of parliament and senators opposed the bill, calling for more time and scrutiny. What problems did the law attempt to tackle? Public debate around the law focused on addictive platform design and the risks of those design choices leading to negative mental health effects on developing minds. The government framed the law as a response to problematic or compulsive platform use, cyber bullying, harmful content, unwanted adult contact and mental health risks. While extensive research supports concern about adolescent vulnerability, it does not establish that an age ban alone will reduce mental health problems. Why is the focus on banning accounts for under-16s? The Australian government says that being logged into an account increases the likelihood that children will be exposed to “negative, upsetting or manipulative content.” It considers the legislation to be a “delay” rather than a “ban” on accessing social media, stressing that it gives young people the time and space to develop skills such as digital literacy, impulse control and resilience before being inundated with challenging content online. What the law does: It makes clear that under-16s are not able to give consent to share their data via a platform’s terms of service, and designates social media platforms as age-restricted services. This makes it illegal for prescribed platforms to offer accounts to Australians aged under 16 and requires them to take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children under 16 from holding accounts. The law places legal responsibility on platforms, not children or parents, and it currently applies to Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. They can use a range of age assurance methods, such as analyzing users’ biological or behavioral features, using information other than date of birth to infer an individual’s age. What the law doesn’t do: Subject children, their parents or carers to penalties. Ban under 16s from accessing public content on social media platforms. Cover every online service. Messaging, education, health, professional networking and many gaming services are excluded. Enforce a single type of age assurance. Instead platforms are expected to demonstrate to the Australian regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, that they’ve taken reasonable steps to prevent children from opening accounts. While the platform may rely on government-issued identification, they’re not allowed to force Australians to use these. Make it an offense for a child to use a VPN or attempt to access a platform. Popular services such as Discord, Messenger, WhatsApp, Roblox, Steam and Google Classroom were among services eSafety identified as outside the restrictions. The classification can change, as the purpose of a platform evolves. What impa