Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban

Australia is rolling out a national rule that blocks under-16s from using mainstream social platforms starting in December, called the Online Safety Amendment Bill & targeting the Online Safety Act, legislated in 2021.

The law passed in November 2024 and is being watched globally, with leaders in New York praising Australia’s approach during UN events, according to Reuters. The new rules come into effect from December 10, 2025.

What the Social Media Ban does

The law raises the minimum age for accounts from 13 to 16 and tells platforms to take “reasonable steps” to stop children creating or keeping accounts. Fines can reach A$50 million if companies fail to act. UNICEF Australia’s explainer says the policy is expected to cover major services such as YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit, while child-specific or education apps are likely to be out of scope.

Originally, the bill had carve-outs protecting gaming and messaging apps from the requirement. This included platforms like Roblox, despite it’s notorious reputation for housing dangerous environments for children.

Australia’s eSafety commissioner has since revised he approach, including Roblox and some messaging platforms in the amendment. Tech firms, not families, face penalties.

How Social Media Ban Enforcement Might Work

Government briefings and public reporting say Australia prefers age assurance that is minimally invasive. That could include facial age estimation, activity and behaviour signals, or document checks as a fallback, rather than a universal ID upload for everyone, according to the BBC. Trials found each method has trade-offs and that a layered approach is more robust.

The Practical Challenges of a Social Media Age Ban

Independent analysis highlights accuracy and privacy questions. The Guardian notes that facial estimation can be quick for many users, yet error rates climb around the 16-year threshold, which could mean appeals or extra ID checks. The same coverage warns smaller platforms might exit the Australian market rather than build complex systems, and that some tools show demographic bias that must be addressed.

Why is Australia Banning Social Media for Under 16s?

The policy aims to reduce harms for younger teens. Officials cite mental health concerns, bullying, misinformation, and harmful body-image content. Australia’s prime minister framed the change as giving teens “three more years of being shaped by real-life experience, not algorithms,”.

Critics tend to claim the ban isn’t driven by child-safety, but instead by politics & optics. Framed as a rushed, knee-jerk reaction that plays into moral panic and media pressure, while expanding domestic surveillance and digital control (while compromising rights and free expression).

When is Australia Banning Social Media for Under 16s?

The legislation is in place, and is set to come into effect from December 10, 2025. From this point in time, platforms included by the law will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from holding accounts. Failure will result in penalties.

This does not mean social media will become unavailable from December 10. There are a few possible outcomes that we may see in the coming months;

Platforms comply promptly, and under 16s begin to lose account access before December 10.
Platforms comply in time, and under 16s begin losing account access from December 10.
Platforms push back, and fight the legislation, or determine the penalties are insufficient motivators, and ignore the legislation.
Platforms remove themselves from the AU market.

Australia is a small market, and it’s taking steps that make it a less attractive environment for digital platforms. Similar legislation targeting social media has attracted pushback in the past, with eventual reconciliation. How they respond to Australia’s decision will likely be determined by the actions of major economies, in particular the US.

Potential benefits to Australia’s Social Media Ban

There are some distinct benefits to limiting broad internet exposure for young people. While expanded surveillance surfaces are not a good thing for anyone, some action to mitigate the harm of children is absolutely necessary. The legislation as it currently stands provides;

Clearer guardrails for younger teens: A single national age line sets expectations for families and schools.
Less exposure to harmful content: Supporters say fewer under-16 accounts can reduce contact risks and algorithmic rabbit holes.
Global signal to platforms: International attention may push companies to invest in safer defaults for teens.

Potential Downsides to Under 16 Social Media Bans

Depending on the exact implementation, and how platforms handle the requirements, there may be considerable drawbacks for everyone – not just the banned under 16s.

Verification friction and errors: Facial estimation and other checks can misclassify people near the cutoff, creating false blocks or letting some under-16s through. Appeals add time and effort.
Privacy trade-offs: Document checks are accurate but raise questions about data retention and access.
Workarounds and uneven impact: VPNs, forged documents, or migrating to less regulated sites can blunt the policy, while smaller platforms may decide to leave the market.

How Redact can help you protect yourself

Policy can change quickly, and so can platform rules. What you control today is your footprint.

Redact helps you reduce what strangers, scrapers, and background checks can learn about you. Bulk delete old posts, comments, likes, and messages across major platforms. Filter by keywords or dates, preview every change, and schedule recurring cleanups. Smaller, calmer profiles mean less data for algorithms and far fewer surprises if rules tighten again.

Redact supports dozens of other major social and productivity platforms. You can try it free for deletions on Discord, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit.

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