Australia’s ban on children using social media has produced only a small decline in use, with about 80 percent of under-16s still active on platforms three months after the law took effect in December 2025, according to new research.
The study, which surveyed 803 children aged 10 to 15 and their parents, found that the share of children using at least one social media platform fell only slightly, from 85.9 percent before the ban to 81.5 percent by March-April 2026.
More than half of the children surveyed said platforms had not taken any steps to verify their age. The report found that 37 percent of children said they had listed their age as 16 or over in their accounts to keep access, and 18 percent said platforms had incorrectly assessed them as over 16.
The research also noted early signs of children shifting from Instagram and TikTok toward Reddit and Pinterest. An unintended consequence was that the share of parents unaware their children were using social media rose by about 10 percent.
The Australian government is now planning to increase fines for platforms and expand the eSafety Commissioner’s powers to gather information. Companies developing age-verification technology have called for independent mandatory audits of whether platforms are genuinely applying age checks.
Experts cautioned that full platform compliance would not fully resolve the problem, because the law prohibits account creation but does not ban children from viewing social media content without logging in.
