Australia Enforces Landmark Social Media Ban for Kids Under 16

Thu Dec 11 2025 01:26:12 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Australia has rolled out a groundbreaking social media ban for children under the age of 16, aiming to shield them from harmful online content. This bold initiative is garnering attention and mixed reactions from around the globe.

Australia's government has implemented a new law prohibiting children under 16 from using mainstream social media platforms, aiming to combat cyberbullying and child exploitation. While the initiative has received support from parents and some mental health advocates, it faces criticism from children and concerns about enforcement. This policy marks Australia as a world leader in online youth protection, setting a strict precedent that other nations may follow.

Australia's world-first social media ban for children has taken effect, with throngs of teenagers waking up to find their accounts have gone dark. Others tell BBC they have already snuck past barriers and will continue scrolling and posting freely until they are caught.

The new law means social media firms - including Meta, TikTok and YouTube - must take reasonable steps to ensure Australians aged under 16 don't hold accounts on their platforms. The ban, eyed with excitement by global leaders and trepidation by tech companies, was justified as necessary to protect children from harmful content and algorithms - though critics have argued blanket prohibition is neither practical nor wise.

This landmark policy has been one of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's pet projects, and speaking to media on Wednesday he said he believed it has the power to change lives around the world. This is a day in which my pride to be prime minister of Australia has never been greater, he said, flanked by parents and media figures who had pushed for the ban.

Various governments, from the US state of Florida to the European Union, have been experimenting with limiting children's use of social media. But, along with a higher age limit of 16, Australia is the first jurisdiction to deny an exemption for parental approval in a policy like this - making its laws the world's strictest.

Polling shows the ban is wildly popular with parents, who hope it will also help reduce cyber bullying and child exploitation. But it is far less popular with children. Backed by some mental health advocates, many have argued it robs young people of connection - particularly those from LGBTQ+, neurodivergent or rural communities - and will leave them less equipped to tackle the realities of life on the web.

Experts are also worried kids are going to circumvent the ban with relative ease - either by tricking the technology that's performing the age checks, or by finding other, potentially less safe, places on the net to gather.

Tech firms, desperate to stop other countries from implementing similar bans, have argued the government is overreaching, and pointed to recently strengthened parental controls on many of their platforms as a solution. While the government has insisted the social media companies have the money and the technology to make this ban happen, it has also sought to manage expectations. We do acknowledge it won't be perfect and we'll work through it, Albanese said.