Three months into Australia’s social media ban, kids are still getting through
Australia was the first country in the world to ban children under 16 from social media, when the law came into force on 10 December 2025. Three months later, its online safety regulator has published its first review of how platforms are complying — and the picture is not encouraging. Close to 70% of Australian parents say their child still has an active account on at least one of the banned platforms.
What the platforms were required to do — and where they’re falling short
The ban covers Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. All five were required to deactivate existing accounts belonging to under-16s and prevent new ones from being created. Between them, they have deleted around five million accounts, which is not nothing. But the regulator found that the way platforms are enforcing the rules has significant gaps.
The most common failure was basic: platforms were allowing children to repeat the same age check until they got through. Others were accepting a typed-in birthday as sufficient proof of age — which means a child who enters a false date of birth gets straight in. The regulator has formally put all five platforms on notice and is now investigating whether to take legal action. Fines of up to AU$49.5 million per platform are possible.
Children are getting around it — and quickly
The survey of Australian parents tells its own story. Seven in ten still report their child has at least one active account on a restricted platform. Some of those accounts predate the ban and simply haven’t been caught yet. Others are new, created after the ban using false ages or VPNs, which allow a device to appear as though it’s connecting from a different country, bypassing geographic restrictions entirely.
This is the consistent pattern with age-based restrictions: the children most capable of circumventing them tend to be exactly the age group the rules are designed to protect. That doesn’t make the ban pointless — younger children are less likely to find workarounds, and friction does change behaviour for some. But it does mean enforcement has to focus on the platforms themselves, not just on whether children can technically be blocked.
One platform is pushing back
Reddit has filed a legal challenge to the ban in Australia’s High Court, arguing that the restrictions interfere with free expression. A first hearing is scheduled for May 2026. If the court finds parts of the ban unlawful, it could affect how the rules are applied more broadly — particularly for older teenagers who use Reddit for study, communities, or mental health support.
Why every other country is paying attention
Australia’s experience is the first real-world test of what happens when a government bans children from social media. Regulators and policymakers across dozens of countries are watching closely, because the questions it raises don’t have easy answers yet. Does the friction a ban creates change children’s behaviour at scale? What happens to the children who get around it? And what level of enforcement is actually sufficient?
Three months in, the honest answer is partial compliance, significant circumvention, and a regulator that is pushing for more. Whether 2026 brings tougher enforcement, better technology, or a broader rethink of the approach, Wired Parents will keep tracking it.
Sources: eSafety Commissioner — compliance report on social media platforms, April 2026 AP News — Australia’s regulator considers court action against social media platforms, March 2026 JURIST — Australia online regulator reports non-compliance with social media ban, April 2026
