Latest news Australia: Social media ban for under-16s starts
Australia is making history in digital child protection: with immediate effect, children and young people under the age of 16 are no longer allowed to have their own accounts on many major social media platforms. This affects ten services, including Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, X, Reddit and Twitch.
10.12.2025, 01:19
SDA
The controversial law was passed at the end of 2024 and came into force on Wednesday (local time) despite criticism and a lawsuit before the Supreme Court. Almost all major parties had supported the initiative of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in parliament. The platforms were given twelve months to implement the new age restriction.
The aim is to protect children and young people from the risks associated with social media - such as excessive screen consumption, cyberbullying and other content that can have a negative impact on mental health and well-being.
'Normal childhood' instead of endless scrolling
Online safety campaigner Julie Inman Grant said later access to social media gives young people "valuable time" to develop without the "powerful, invisible forces of opaque algorithms and endless scrolling".
Albanese described social media as a "scourge" that keeps young people away from a normal childhood with real friends and real experiences. "We want our youngest Australians to spend more time outside, playing sport, interacting with each other in a normal way - and less time online." With the law, the government wants to support parents in Australia in these efforts.
Platforms face fines
The responsibility lies explicitly with the platforms, not with parents or young people. Anyone under 16 will not be punished, but the services will be if they disregard the regulations. Platforms that fail to carry out age checks face hefty fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (27.9 million euros).
Messaging services, email, voice and video calls, online games and educational services are exempt from the ban. Popular gaming platforms such as Roblox and apps such as Whatsapp or Messenger are - at least so far - not covered by the new regulation.
"Like in Orwell's "1984""
It was only at the end of November that the organization "Digital Freedom Project" filed a lawsuit against the ban in the Supreme Court in Canberra. Two 15-year-old teenagers are appearing as plaintiffs. The group argues that the ban is excessive and a "direct attack on young people's right to free political communication". The young plaintiff Macy emphasized that the law is reminiscent of George Orwell's novel "1984", which describes a totalitarian surveillance society.
However, not only young people, but also experts and critics are skeptical. Many say that teenagers will simply switch to other services, such as gaming or messaging platforms, where risk and control are even more difficult. Others say the government should not have invested in a ban, but in programs to help children navigate social media safely.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is also convinced that a blanket ban is not the right answer: "There are less restrictive alternatives that could achieve the goal of protecting children and young people from online dangers without so severely restricting other human rights." One alternative would therefore be to impose a legal duty of care on tech companies. "This would oblige them to take appropriate measures to make their products safe for children and young people," says the AHRC.
How is age verified?
Online services such as Snapchat had asked hundreds of thousands of users to prove their age shortly before launch. The notices were sent to accounts that Snapchat believed to be active under the age of 16. The platform used "behavior-based signals" from the activities as well as self-reported age data.
However, affected users were given the opportunity to download their own data such as chats, memories or videos in advance. The accounts are now blocked - and will remain so until the users turn 16.
In a recent interview with 7News, Premier Albanese admitted that the law was certainly not perfect, but that it would help to curb online bullying and save young lives. "We are leading the world here, but the world will follow Australia," he is convinced.
Will other countries follow?
Discussions are now taking place in many countries. The EU Parliament recently voted by a clear majority in favor of an EU-wide minimum age. However, the adopted report is not yet binding. The government in Denmark recently agreed with other parliamentary parties to introduce a national age limit of 15 years for access to certain social media.
In Germany, there is currently no statutory minimum age for users. Theoretically, the parents of young people under the age of 16 would have to consent to their use - however, this is rarely verified and birth dates can easily be falsified during registration. The Federal Drug Commissioner Hendrik Streeck (CDU) recently spoke out in favor of age ratings and protection mechanisms based on the FSK model (Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry).
From the point of view of students in Germany, the Australian regulation is the wrong way to go. "The first solution of an education politician cannot be to ban something. The first solution is always education, i.e. teaching young people skills," said Quentin Gärtner from the Federal Student Conference. "It is crucial that I, as a young person, am taught how to behave in social media," he told the German Press Agency.
