No social media for children under 16 - new law in Australia

Waking up on Wednesday, children from all across Australia will find they have no access to their social media accounts under a world-first ban designed to shelter those under 16 from addictive algorithms, digital bullies, and online predators.

Australia is the first nation to take such sweeping measures, and the rollout of this tough new law is being closely watched by legislators around the globe.

Most of the 10 banned platforms—Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Kick, Reddit, Twitch, and X—say they’ll comply with the ban, using age-verification technology to identify under-16s and suspend their accounts, but they don’t believe it will make children safer.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is already touting the ban as a success because families are talking about social media use. Some children—and their parents—are expected to flout the ban, but there are no consequences for either.

“We’ve said very clearly that this won’t be perfect … but it’s the right thing to do for society to express its views, its judgment, about what is appropriate,” Albanese told the public broadcaster ABC on Sunday.

Under the law, platforms need to show they have taken “reasonable steps” to deactivate accounts used by under-16s and to prevent new accounts from being opened, to avoid fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million).

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Platforms are checking ages via live-video selfies, email addresses, or official documents. According to Yoti, an age-verification company whose clients include Meta, most users choose a video selfie, which uses facial data points to estimate age.