Four in five under-16s in Australia using social media despite ban, study shows

Experts say law not enough to stop children accessing harmful content online and more ‘convincing strategy is required’ More than 80% of under-16s in Australia said they were still using social media three months after legislation banning them from it came into force, research shows. Australia is the first country to ban social media for children. Since December 2025, under-16s have been prohibited from having accounts with many social media platforms including TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram,...

By Anna Bawden Health and social affairs correspondent

Four out of five Australian children still using social media despite ban, study finds amid fears over UK crackdown

Early evidence from Australia suggests 80 per cent of young people are still accessing social media despite the country’s blanket ban

By Nicole Wootton-Cane

Australia’s social media ban for children has had little effect, study finds

Underage users have been dodging the restrictions by using accounts registered to older people, setting up fake accounts, or by logging into private browsers

By AFP

Australia’s social media ban shows little early impact as most under-age teens stay online

By Eilish O'Regan

Australia’s social media ban for under 16s having little impact, study shows

Underage users have been dodging the restrictions by using accounts registered to older people, setting up fake accounts, or by logging into private browsers.

Australia teen social media ban has little impact - study

Australia's social media ban for under 16s has had little impact on teenagers' scrolling habits, researchers have said in one of the first evaluations of the world-leading measures.