In brief: Australia led the way in implementing nationwide social media bans for users under a certain age, introducing the law in December. Four months later, how effective is it proving to be? Not very, according to a new survey.
Australia's world-first social media ban on users under the age of 16 isn't keeping kids off the platforms as well as the government hoped.
A new study by the UK-based suicide prevention charity Molly Rose Foundation (MSF) found that 61%, or three in five, Australian 12 – 15-year-olds who had accounts on restricted platforms before the ban came into force still have access to one or more accounts.
Most of the large platforms have held on to the majority of their underage users. 53% of previous TikTok users can still access their accounts, as can 53% of previous YouTube users and 52% of previous Instagram users.
Soon after Australia's law was implemented, there were reports of teenagers circumventing facial age verification scans by making unusual facial expressions, applying makeup, or using VPNs. There were also reports of some who passed age verification checks using their faces to help friends and family members sidestep the ban.
The MSF report found that in the majority of cases where kids were still accessing their social media accounts, the platforms have failed to identify and remove under-16 accounts, meaning most children haven't needed to resort to workarounds.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of YouTube users, 61% of Snapchat users, and 60% of both Instagram and TikTok users said the platforms had taken "no action" to remove or deactivate an account they had before restrictions.
As with similar bans in other countries, one of the reasons for its creation was to make children safer online. But 51% of those surveyed who used restricted platforms prior to the ban say the law has made no difference to their online safety, while 14% say it actually makes them feel less safe.
The MSF says the evidence shows an Australia-style ban on kids' social media usage in the UK won't deliver the immediate improvements in safety that parents and children demand and deserve. It is instead calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to commit to a new Online Safety Act.
After Australia introduced the ban, Greece, France, Indonesia, Austria, Spain, and the UK implemented similar restrictions or are considering them.
Several US states have already introduced their own social media bans or restrictions. Some believe a nationwide ban could eventually follow, particularly after Meta was recently found liable for harming children in a social media addiction lawsuit.