Australia was the first country to bar under-16s from holding social media accounts. The ban began on 10 December 2025 and covers ten platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Kick and Twitch. The law puts the job on the platforms. Children and parents face no penalty.
What has happened so far. Platforms removed or restricted about 4.7 million accounts in the first weeks, and around 310,000 more by early March. That sounds decisive until you look at who is still there. The regulator’s own study of more than 4,000 families found that, three months in, most under-16s who had an account before the ban had either kept it or opened a new one. A University of Newcastle study found the large majority of 12 to 15-year-olds still on at least one banned app every week.
Why children are still getting on. Mostly, nobody stopped them. Many accounts were simply never found. Of the children who did meet an age check, roughly seven in ten said it was easy to get past: a false birthday, a borrowed account, or a photo that fooled the face scan. In July, testers ran accounts on nine of the ten platforms and were never once asked to prove their age. Nor has bullying moved: the regulator saw no notable change in complaints about cyberbullying or shared intimate images in the first two months.
What Australia has done about it. Nobody has been fined yet. In March the regulator, eSafety, said it was investigating Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. In September Parliament doubled the maximum fine to A$99 million and gave eSafety the power to demand evidence from the platforms and from the companies that run their age checks. eSafety has also said that a platform relying on children typing in their own birthday has not done enough.
The court case. Reddit and a campaign group, the Digital Freedom Project, have asked Australia’s highest court to strike the law down, arguing it shuts teenagers out of political debate. The High Court heard both cases on 3 and 4 November 2026 and will rule later; it aims to give judgments within three months. The government accepted that the ban limits political speech, but called the effect “indirect” and “modest”.
How it unfolded.
- November 2024: the law passes, with platforms given a year to prepare.
- 10 December 2025: the ban starts on ten platforms.
- January 2026: 4.7 million accounts removed or restricted.
- March 2026: five platforms placed under investigation.
- July 2026: testers are never asked to prove their age on nine of ten platforms.
- 10 September 2026: maximum fine doubled to A$99 million.
- 3 and 4 November 2026: High Court hears the challenge. Ruling expected by early 2027.
The High Court should rule by early 2027, and eSafety’s first fines could land before that. Subscribers hear the week either happens.
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What this means for you right now
If your country is talking about a ban, this is what I’d take from Australia.
- Don’t treat a ban as the decision made for you. A law on the books and a child logged out are two different things. Passing the law turned out to be the easy part.
- Ask your child which apps still work for them. Most Australian children’s accounts did.
- Keep the things you control. Devices out of bedrooms overnight, and parental controls you can see and test yourself, still do more day to day than a ban the platforms are struggling to enforce.
- Check the age a platform thinks your child is. If they signed up with a made-up birthday, the app’s teen protections are probably switched off.
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Checked 12 November 2026.
Sources:
- eSafety Commissioner, Social Media Minimum Age compliance update, March 2026
- eSafety Commissioner, early insights from the evaluation project
- NPR, study finds Australia’s ban has barely affected access (University of Newcastle)
- Technology.org, Australia’s age checks stumble in new test
- Parliament of Australia, Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age Bill 2026
- Prime Minister of Australia, stronger powers and double the penalties
- High Court of Australia, The Digital Freedom Project v Commonwealth
