Summary:
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Australia implemented under-16 social media ban, facing challenges with teens already finding loopholes, and global interest in the outcome.
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The ban resulted in deactivating thousands of accounts, sparking interest from lawmakers worldwide in implementing similar restrictions.
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Experts predict challenges in enforcing the ban, while supporters praise it as a cultural reset and opponents raise concerns about surveillance.
Australia’s world-first under-16 social media ban is setting off a global chain reaction — from anxious teens and celebrating parents to lawmakers eyeing their own copy-and-paste versions.
Australia became the first country to formally block under-16s from major social platforms on Wednesday, forcing YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, and X to restrict millions of accounts overnight, according to reporting from CNBC and Reuters. Platforms must now deploy age-verification tools — everything from selfie-based age estimation to ID uploads — or face fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.
Well the U16 social media ban is a complete failure already with teens already finding loop holes
Australia was apparently setting a ‘World Standard’ and yet that World Standard is already collapsing.
— Mickamious (@MickamiousG) December 10, 2025
The rollout hit at midnight. By Wednesday morning, TikTok alone had deactivated about 200,000 accounts, with “hundreds of thousands” more expected to follow, Reuters reported.
But the rest of the world isn’t just watching. It’s taking notes.
Lawmakers from Europe to Asia have been circling their own teen-access bills, and many are treating Australia like a live beta test for whether such bans are actually enforceable. Denmark, Norway, France, Spain, Malaysia, and New Zealand all have early proposals in motion, CNBC reported.
The European Parliament already passed a nonbinding resolution advocating a minimum age of 16 for social media access and is weighing bans on addictive features like infinite scroll for minors.
Christel Schaldemose, a leading EU lawmaker, told Reuters she’s eager to “see how they do it and learn from them.”
Platforms, meanwhile, are bracing for a new era. Advertising revenue from under-16s is limited, but the bigger fear is long-term user loss. Before the ban, 86 percent of Australians aged eight to 15 used social media, according to government figures.
Even before the law kicked in, teenagers were posting farewell videos, “see you when I’m 16” captions, and elaborate tutorials for dodging verification systems. Many Australian teens have already bypassed the ban using VPNs or exploiting inaccuracies in age-estimation tools, CNBC reported.
“It’s kind of pointless,” said 14-year-old Claire Ni in Reuters’ coverage. “We’re just going to create new ways to get on these platforms.”
The move sparked a mix of resignation and rebellious pragmatism from younger Aussies. Some say the break might be healthy; others say it’s a cultural whiplash. Fifteen-year-old Luna Dizon told Reuters she still had access on day one but feared the “culture shock” once the ban was fully locked in.
Still, experts expected this. University of Sydney professor Terry Flew compared the first weeks to “teething problems,” telling CNBC that 100 percent compliance was never realistic.
Supporters argue the law is overdue. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who has linked rising youth mental-health issues to early smartphone and platform exposure, publicly praised Australia for “freeing kids under 16 from the social media trap,” CNBC reported.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed the ban as a cultural reset, urging kids to pick up instruments, sports, or a long-abandoned book.
Opponents see something very different: sweeping surveillance and a dangerous precedent for state control over online speech. Amnesty Tech warned that the law “ignores the rights and realities of younger generations” and sidesteps the real fix — universal platform design reform and strong data-protection laws.
Others fear the ban could push teens toward less regulated corners of the internet. Cato Institute researcher David Inserra warned that young users might migrate to privacy-heavy apps like Telegram or obscure platforms with fewer safety features, making it harder to monitor harms.
Even eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told Reuters that American parents keep telling her they “wish we had a government that was going to put tween and teen safety before technology profits.”
Tech companies warn enforcement may be impossible without invasive data practices. Privacy advocates worry about facial-analysis tools becoming the norm. Platforms fear losing their future user pipeline. And teens insist they’ll always find a workaround.
