Teenagers will no longer be allowed to use social media in Australia from next week. Platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, Kik, Twitch and others will have to block users under the age of 16.
What you should know
Australia has enacted legislation that will require platforms to pay fines of up to $33 million for giving access to the network to teenagers who fail to verify their age.
As the age limit approaches, Meta has said it has deactivated 150,000 Facebook accounts and 350,000 Instagram accounts of Australian users aged 13 to 15.
In addition, Meta has made it impossible for those under 16 to open accounts on its platform. Meta initially opposed the Australian government's legal provision, but now appears ready to comply with the age limit rather than pay a large fine. TikTok's parent company ByteDance has also said it will comply with the law. TikTok has also started closing accounts of users under 16.
Snapchat, on the other hand, is keeping existing accounts in a 'frozen state' until users turn 16. Users will be able to download their photos or conversations, but will not be able to upload them. YouTube has announced that it will automatically sign out users under the age of 16 from December 10 (the day the law comes into effect). Google has warned that the “hastily drafted law” will make children more unsafe online, but has responded by saying it will comply with the law. Popular platforms in Australia such as
X, Reddit, Twitch, and Kik have not yet given any public response. Platforms such as Facebook and TikTok have been claiming that they will create AI-based age verification and ID verification tools, but this could pose a challenge to privacy protection. Since such tools require highly sensitive and personal details, from facial scans to birth certificates, the companies believe that it is risky to collect them.
The ‘Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, 2024’, passed in Australia in November 2024, made it mandatory for social media platforms to block access to users under the age of 16. The law will come into effect from December 10. It places Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X (Twitter), Reddit, Twitch, Threads and Kik apps under ‘age-restricted social media services’. It does not include some platforms like Discord, Roblox, WhatsApp and Lemonade. However, as the number of teenage users on these apps increases, the Australian government plans to place them under ‘age-restricted’.
Some Australian teenagers are using VPNs, fake profiles or parental accounts to access social media, local media reported. Some have started opening accounts on unregulated apps like Lemon8. 15-year-olds Noah Jones and Macy Neyland have filed a lawsuit in the High Court against the Social Media Minimum Age Act. They claim that the law is unconstitutional and violates the right of 2.6 million young people to debate political and governance issues.
The court on Thursday decided to fast-track the case, which was filed on November 26, as a “special case” filed by the youth. Communications Minister Anika Wells, E-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant and representatives of the federal government have been asked to appear in court. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that social media is harming children and it is time to end it. ‘The responsibility of the relevant platform operators to prevent children from accessing social media will lie with the relevant platform operators,’ he said, ‘The platforms must take appropriate steps to do this. The responsibility will not lie with parents or children.’
With the implementation of this law, Meta is estimated to lose 500,000 active users from Australia and lose millions in advertising revenue. The teenage generation has been an important target group for advertising by fashion, gaming and entertainment brands. In addition, it seems that companies will have an additional financial burden to create age-verification systems and monitoring systems. A debate has begun as to whether such strict regulations will change the nature of the global digital advertising market.
Governments are closely watching Australia's regulatory efforts as concerns grow around the world about the health risks and online safety of children accessing social media. If successful, it could lead to other countries adopting age-based digital regulation. If this happens, experts say tech companies will need to rethink their business models that rely on teenagers.
