Australia bans social media for teens under 16: How platforms will verify user age and enforce the law

Australia Bans Social Media For Teens Under 16 To Boost Online Safety

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that children under 16 will be prohibited from using social media under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024.

The law, effective 10 December 2025, makes it illegal for minors to create or maintain accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Reddit, and Kick.

Speaking on the new rules, PM Albanese said, "This is about making sure our kids are safe online. The digital world should not come at the cost of their mental health or development."

The law is designed to reduce exposure to harmful content and mitigate the negative effects of excessive screen time. Research links prolonged social media use among children and teenagers to rising anxiety, poor sleep, and reduced attention spans globally.

Social media companies will implement multiple methods to ensure compliance, broadly categorized as age verification, age estimation, and age inference:

• Age verification: Users may need to provide documents as proof of age, though platforms cannot rely solely on government-issued IDs.
• Age estimation: Biometric analysis, such as facial or voice recognition, may be used to estimate age.
• Age inference: Platforms may assess online behavior, including word choice, browsing history, or network connections, to determine a user’s age.

Despite these measures, accurately verifying that users are over 16 remains challenging, especially when relying on physiological characteristics alone.

The legislation does not expect perfect adherence. Platforms are required to take “reasonable steps” to comply, meaning occasional underage accounts may occur without penalty. The online safety regulator may request platforms to report age distribution and explain the accuracy of their verification technologies.

Communications Minister Anika Wells stated, “Even if it’s not perfect, it’s too important not to try.” Companies will have discretion in defining an acceptable margin of error when estimating user ages based on their audience.

The new law marks a significant step in online safety policy in Australia. By restricting social media access for children under 16, the government aims to prioritize mental health, development, and safety while holding platforms accountable for systemic compliance rather than individual cases.