(Link to https://www.esafety.gov.au/research/under-the-new-age-restrictions-early-insights-from-australian-parents) “Age bans won’t work,” experts warned when Australia decided in an urgent procedure to ban children and young people from large social networks. “Legal age limits won’t work.” It was the first country with such a ban, and there are now imitators. A survey of 400 people affected shows that the warning was justified. Usage appears to have barely decreased: 86 percent of those affected said they used at least one banned platform in the week before the survey.
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The ban came into force on December 10, 2025 and applies to Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, but not WhatsApp), Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. Before the ban, 95 percent of the children (12 and 13 years old, n=139) stated that they had used at least one of these offers in the week before the survey, and 60 percent even used them every day of that week. In the second survey, three months after the ban came into force, these values fell only slightly: to 86 percent, or 52 percent for daily use.
Among the 14 and 15 year olds surveyed (n=197), it went from 98 percent to 89 percent (use in the past week), and from 77 percent to 65 percent for daily use. Older adolescents (16+, n=100) to whom the legal restrictions do not apply were also included. They show a similar trend: Instead of 100 percent, only 96 percent used one of the offers the week before. After 89 percent, only 85 percent admitted daily use.
The research group led by Courtney Barnes and Alix Hall from the Australian University of Newcastle does not claim that their numbers are representative. They did have some of the answers obtained online and by telephone supported by screenshots; however, two thirds of the participants live in a single state in Australia (New South Wales). Almost all were born in Australia and speak English at home, and 69 percent live in wealthier households. In addition, the sample is not large: out of a total of 436 respondents last year, 408 were included in the second round; the gender ratio was almost balanced (47 percent boys). The researchers recommend further, larger studies.
Seasonal fluctuations could also come into play. This also suggests that participants tended to report spending more time playing outdoors and less time with AI companions than before the ban. Reported WhatsApp usage has risen sharply. According to their own assessment, approximately the same number of young people increased their use of social networks as reduced their use. The same applies to computer games.
VPNs don’t matter
Of the 86 percent of under-16s who used a banned social network in the week before the second round of questions, two thirds remembered an age check on a platform, which they then overcame. The methods vary greatly: a third were asked about their age, a good fifth had to upload a selfie or other photos, and an eighth had to obtain permission from a legal guardian.
Other age verification approaches included uploading copies of ID cards, providing ID numbers or bank details, uploading voice samples and using special apps for age verification. The benefit is modest: 62 percent got through with their own account, only 17 percent had to switch to someone else’s or a fake account. Eight percent helped themselves with the incognito mode of a browser.
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Using a virtual private network (VPN) to fake a location outside Australia in order to circumvent the ban is practically irrelevant: only two percent have done so.
Of the older participants, seven percent had to use a fake access account, four percent had to use a third-party account and one percent had to use the incognito mode of a web browser. Because the algorithms incorrectly considered them to be too young.
Parents partly know
The survey results may be surprising in terms of their size, but not in their fundamental nature. A survey of guardians by the regulatory authority responsible for the ban has already shown something similar: According to this, almost half knew before the ban that their children had their own account on at least one platform affected by the ban. Of those parents in the know, around seventy percent said in the new year that their children continued to have an account on Snapchat or Meta, the regulator reports.
On YouTube, however, a good half of children are said to have lost their access. The editorial team does not have any further statistical information that would allow an assessment of the official survey.
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