Australia's Under-16 Social Media Ban Shows Limited Impact After Three Months
New eSafety Commissioner data reveals 81.5% of children still access restricted platforms despite account ownership dropping.
Three months after Australia's social media ban for children under 16 took effect, 81.5% of kids still access restricted platforms, according to an initial evaluation from the eSafety Commissioner.
The report, based on responses from more than 4,100 children and families, shows that while account ownership on age-restricted platforms fell from 52.4% to 42.1%, overall access decreased by only 4.4 percentage points. The gap between ownership and access highlights how easily restrictions are being circumvented.
Workarounds Widespread
Children bypass the ban through multiple channels. Thirty-seven percent reported their account age was listed as over 16, and 11% said parents helped them get around the restrictions. The banned platforms include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Threads, X, YouTube, Twitch, Reddit, and Kick.
Some users migrated to platforms not covered by the restrictions. Pinterest usage among under-16s grew from 16.6% to 21.8%, while BeReal rose from 0.2% to 2.2%. The data found no statistically significant change in children's use of AI chatbots, assistants, or companions.
FOMO Declining
The proportion of children feeling they were missing out by not having social media dropped from 43.3% to 36.3%, suggesting that as the ban becomes normalized, social pressure may be easing.
Julie Inman Grant, Australia's eSafety Commissioner, cautioned that measuring the law's success requires a longer timeline. "Complex reform of this nature is unwinding 20 years of social media entrenchment and will therefore take time," she said. "The impact of the law will not be measured in weeks or months but over generations."
Enforcement Challenges Ahead
The findings underscore the difficulty of enforcing digital age restrictions through legislation alone. With technical enforcement and platform compliance remaining the primary hurdles, the Australian experiment is being closely watched by other nations considering similar measures. Canada and the UK are both evaluating or implementing age-based social media restrictions.
The eSafety Commissioner's office is conducting a two-year evaluation to monitor outcomes. This initial report represents the first data point in what will be a longitudinal assessment of whether legislative bans can meaningfully reduce children's exposure to social media platforms.
The numbers suggest that determined users—and in some cases, their parents—can find workarounds faster than regulators can close them.