One-fifth of Australian teens still use TikTok, Snapchat after social media ban

March 13, 2026 9:51 AM

One-fifth of Australian teens still use TikTok, Snapchat after social media ban

One-fifth of Australian teenagers under 16 were still using social media two months after the country banned platforms from allowing minors, industry data showed, raising questions about the effectiveness of their age-gating methods. The number of 13-to-15-year-olds using TikTok and Snapchat, among the most popular social media apps with Australian teenagers, fell from before the ban took effect in December to February, but still more than 20% used the apps, according to a report by parental co...

Australia social media ban hits 4.7 million teen accounts in first month

January 15, 2026 6:35 PM

Australia social media ban hits 4.7 million teen accounts in first month

Social media companies have collectively deactivated nearly five million accounts belonging to Australian teenagers just a month after a world-first ban on under‑16s took effect, the country's internet regulator said, a sign the measure has had a swift and sweeping impact. The eSafety Commissioner said platforms had so far removed about 4.7 million accounts held by under-16s to comply with a law that went live on December 10. Some platforms had said they would start closing affected accounts ...

Australia says the world will follow social media ban as Meta starts blocking teens

December 4, 2025 10:23 AM

Australia says the world will follow social media ban as Meta starts blocking teens

Australia's internet regulator said a teen social media ban would be the first domino to fall in a global push to rein in Big Tech, as Meta's Instagram, Facebook and Threads began locking out hundreds of thousands of accounts ahead of a deadline next week. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she had initially expressed concern about the "blunt-force" approach of blocking under-16s from social media but she had come to embrace it after incremental regulatory changes were not effective en...

Software owned by Australian banks being tested for social media ban

September 17, 2025 10:12 AM

Software owned by Australian banks being tested for social media ban

Software owned by Australia's biggest banks is being tested as a way to comply with a teen social media ban, which begins in December, people involved in the process said, potentially involving the country's financial sector in the world-first regulatory crackdown. ConnectID is an identity verification tool owned by Australia's top lenders, which confirms a person's age from their bank account details. It is part of a package of software being pitched by Singapore-based age estimation provider ...

Australia wants ‘minimally invasive’ age checks under teen social media ban

September 16, 2025 12:53 PM

Australia wants ‘minimally invasive’ age checks under teen social media ban

Australia urged social media platforms on Tuesday to employ "minimally invasive" methods to check the age of users covered by its world-first teen social media ban, which take into account artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioural data. Governments and tech firms worldwide are closely watching Australia's effort to become the first country to block use of social media by those younger than 16, starting from December. "eSafety recommends the most minimally invasive techniques available," the...