From today, Australia’s new social media age laws are in effect, making it illegal for major platforms to provide accounts to children under 16. The rules, which the federal government has billed as a world-leading move, are designed to reduce cyberbullying, self-harm content and other online harms facing young people.
The laws introduce a legal minimum age of 16 for the biggest social media and messaging-style platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), YouTube, Reddit and others with large Australian user bases.
Platforms are now required to take “reasonable steps” to verify users’ ages using approved age-assurance methods and to block or remove under-16s. Significant civil penalties can apply if companies fail to comply.
For children and teenagers, the most immediate impact is that existing accounts may be shut down or locked if platforms believe the user is under 16. New sign-ups will be much harder: rather than just ticking a box, young people will increasingly be asked for some kind of age check, such as an ID-based process or third-party age estimation, before they can create an account.
The ban does not make it a criminal offence for a child to try to use social media. The legal duty sits with the platforms, not individual kids. But in practice, many under-16s will find themselves suddenly cut off from accounts they use to chat with friends, follow pop culture or access support communities. Schools and youth workers are already warning that some young people may attempt to get around the rules using fake details or overseas services, which could push them toward less regulated corners of the internet.
For parents, the new laws change the default setting: instead of endless arguments about whether “everyone else has TikTok”, parents can now point to a clear legal line at age 16. The eSafety Commissioner is urging families to use this moment as a circuit-breaker to reset online habits, talk about mental health, and agree on new house rules around devices, gaming and messaging.
In practical terms, parents should expect a transition period while platforms roll out age-verification systems and clean up existing underage accounts. During that time, it’s sensible to:
- Talk to children in advance about which apps they are likely to lose and why
- Help them stay connected with friends through safer options such as supervised group chats, family-shared devices or age-appropriate platforms
- Watch for emotional fallout if they feel isolated or “left out”, especially around school and peer groups
- Keep an eye on any sudden move to obscure or lesser-known apps that may not have basic safety tools.
Privacy is another major concern. To enforce the age limit, platforms will have to collect or process more information about users’ ages. The government says accredited age-assurance providers will be required to minimise data collection and protect privacy, but civil-liberties and digital-rights groups argue that any large-scale age-verification system carries risks of data breaches or mission creep.
Experts are also divided on the broader impact. Child-safety advocates have welcomed the reforms as a long-overdue step to reduce exposure to self-harm content, sexual exploitation, bullying and extreme material. Others warn that simply pushing teens off mainstream platforms won’t fix underlying issues like mental-health pressure, and could cut young people off from positive communities, information and helplines they rely on.
For now, what’s clear is that Australia has chosen a hard age line where much of the world is still debating guidelines. The success or failure of the ban will depend less on teenagers’ honesty at sign-up and more on how rigorously platforms enforce the rules, how carefully age-verification is handled, and how well families, schools and services support young people through a major change in their online lives.
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