On December 10th, 2025, Australian lawmakers finalized a new law that established a social media ban for users under the age of 16. Following the law’s passage, there has been speculation about whether the ban can withstand the heavy influence social media has on users, whether teens under 16 will find ways to access apps such as TikTok and Instagram, and whether the law will ultimately resolve the issues it was intended to address when the legislature passed it. Now, let’s take a look at how things are going.
Although it was assumed by outsiders looking in that companies had complied with the ban’s terms and restrictions back in December, Samantha Floreani from The Guardian reports, “despite the Australian government’s world-first teen social media ban, around seven in 10 children remain on major platforms.” According to Floreani, rather than getting children off social media, the ban has simply forced teens to work harder to access social media. Additionally, without standard guidelines, teens are using social media irresponsibly by creating fake accounts and finding ways to bypass the restrictions by lying about their age, according to Stephanie Sy from PBS News. “Companies have introduced a range of tools to check their users’ age, from self-reporting to technology that determines age based on selfies, not exactly airtight methods,” reports Sy.
Parents’ views in Australia on this ban have proved very divided. While some believe this ban is beneficial for their children, others think that, rather than addressing issues, it has made children resort to unsafe social media usage. According to Fiona Blackwood from ABC News, an Australian mother to a 12-year-old girl expressed, “It’s just going to happen behind my back, and I’m just going to have to police it even more.” Another Australian mother whose son uses social media to communicate with friends says, “…the government hasn’t considered the gaps created by the social media ban for teens who are isolated, including kids in rural Australia and LGBTQ+ teens.” While the ban aims to protect teens, it continues to raise concerns for parents about broader issues.
Though there are many different opinions and perspectives from families in Australia who are navigating the new law, experts in social media from The Guardian state, “The effects here are not going to be perfect. We’re not going to take away all kids’ mental health problems straight away. It’s going to take time to find this out. It could take over a year to know whether or not this is having the benefits people expect.”
