Australia's kid social media ban is ineffective, study suggests

A study by a team of advisers to the Australian government has suggested that the country's social media ban for children under 16 is ineffective, Reuters reported.

Australia enacted the ban in Dec. 2025, requiring social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok to take "reasonable steps" to prevent those under 16 from creating accounts. The fine for noncompliance was originally up to $AU49.5 million ($US33 million), but in June Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the maximum fine would be doubled to $AUD99 million ($US68.2 million).

"It is clear that social media platforms are adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by," Minister for Communications Anika Wells said in an official statement at the time.

Now, news comes that the bans are failing in test environments. A team of software testers found that platforms didn't ask for proof of age for any of the 50 accounts it opened after the law went into effect. The dummy accounts claimed to be 16, and apparently, the initial vetting process (which estimates age based on online activity) doesn't flag young users for further checks.

Director at testing firm KJR, Andrew Hammond, told Reuters, "You ​should be asked to demonstrate how old you are, and not once have we been asked to verify our age or use age-assurance measures."

Researchers tested these accounts on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok. One account that signed up for X and claimed to be 16 was shown pornographic content, according to Reuters, and X didn't respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Google, which owns YouTube, also didn't respond to Reuters' request for comment. Snap and TikTok declined to comment.

A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that the test seemed inconsistent with Australia's guidance of escalating "to ‌formal age ⁠verification when behavioral indicators suggest they may be underage, or when an account is reported." The spokesperson also said it was unclear if the dummy accounts "posted content or engaged in a way a true under-16-year-old user would."

Australian streaming platform Kick, meanwhile, refused to let them make accounts without proof of age. A spokesperson for Kick said it's not possible to rely on age inference (guessing age depending on behavior) because the platform is new and doesn't have enough data to do so.

Social media bans like Australia's are criticized due to how difficult they are to enforce, and because of potential violations to free speech and expression. Yet, more countries plan to enact such bans, such as Canada, Indonesia, and the UK.