Whether you knew it or not, Australia’s new age ban for social media is now in effect — and it’s big. The platforms must suspend accounts for those below 16 and prevent new underage sign-ups, with the eSafety Commissioner able to issue multimillion-dollar fines if they fail to comply. Major apps have already begun to strip tens of thousands of accounts from their platforms, and are testing an unprecedented combination of age checks, account locks and content moderation.
What the new social media minimum age law requires
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act requires services with a primary goal of social interaction to implement “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s accessing their platforms. Imagine Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Snapchat, Reddit and YouTube — plus livestreaming hubs and various forums — if they allow everyone to post and interact with wide audiences.
Enforcement focuses on businesses, not kids or parents. The eSafety Commissioner is able to send notices, request changes and seek fines of up to $AU49.5 million for systemic noncompliance. The intention, eSafety has pointed out, is to prevent the exposure of young people to social media until safer, “age-appropriate innovations are given time to mature” — not to criminalise parents negotiating their way through online life.
How major platforms are complying with Australia’s ban
- Meta has paused children under 16 in Australia from accessing Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as Threads. Messenger survives because the law makes one-to-one messaging an exception. Impacted individuals are able to download all of their content and may prove age via Yoti’s age estimation, government ID checks or video selfie, with accounts reinstated at 16. Meta continues to push for an app store or device-level fix that would instead obtain parental consent once at set-up, as opposed to on every app.
- TikTok is turning off for 13- to 15-year-olds the ability to have their videos seen by other users. It provides ways to download data and select age confirmation, delete, or receive a reminder at the next eligibility period. TikTok says it uses a combination of layered checks, including government ID, credit card authorisation and Yoti facial age estimation. And that it suspends high volumes of accounts from around the world when age signals don’t line up.
- Snapchat is locking, not deleting, accounts of users under 16 for up to three years unless they verify their ID via k-ID (which requires government ID or facial age estimation) or connect an Australian bank account. Locked users can still get their data and cancellations, but Streaks won’t go on after the lock. Snap contends that its service is mostly used for private communication — 75 percent of the app’s time, it says, is spent in chats — and pushes for system-level age checks rather than verification site by site.
- YouTube is logging off Australian users under the age of 16 and removing access to their channels — which prevents uploads, comments and monetisation. You can still watch even without logging in, and YouTube Kids is not affected. The rule removes account-based parental controls that Google deems as protective, the company says, and is preserving existing channel data for eventual restore once users turn 16 — unless they delete it using Google’s data tools.
- Reddit will ask Australian users to verify their age and suspend accounts that are unable to show they are 16 or older, with an appeal process in place. It is also launching more stringent defaults for under-18s around the world, restricting chat, mature content and ad personalisation. The company has raised worries about both the breadth and the privacy implications of the law, and indicated it would sue.
- X includes a worldwide minimum age of 13, employs default privacy settings that apply to young people, offers facial age estimation and ID checks, but has not provided much detail for the Australian ban.
- Twitch already bans under-13s and has implemented k-ID as a way of estimating people’s ages; more action is anticipated for under-16 Australians.
- Kick is requiring k-ID verification and disabling accounts of underage users, with a review for appeals.
Age checks and privacy risks in verification systems
“Reasonable steps” in practice translates to greater age assurance for signing up and using services: government ID verification, facial age estimation from providers like Yoti and k-ID, plus signals such as method of payment. The providers say their facial tools estimate an age range, rather than identify a person, and that they typically delete the images soon after they are processed. However, privacy campaigners such as Digital Rights Watch and the Australian Privacy Foundation have warned of normalising ID checks for everyday internet access, and the risks that some would misuse that data.
Platforms argue that device-level or app store verification would diminish multiple submissions of ID and provide parents with one control point. That proposal reflects ideas being floated elsewhere and is sure to be a flashpoint in Australia’s next round of policy discussion.
What teens can still use under Australia’s new rules
Not everything is off-limits. Direct-messaging and utility-style services are still accessible, such as Messenger, WhatsApp and Discord. Apps like Roblox, LEGO Play, Steam, GitHub, Google Classroom, Pinterest and YouTube Kids are also allowed. On YouTube itself, you’re still able to see everything without signing in; it’s the account features — uploads, comments, likes, subscriptions — that are being limited.
What to watch next as enforcement and challenges evolve
Expect rapid iteration. eSafety can audit age verification, send notices and escalate its penalties where companies do not live up to this. Platforms will calibrate their detection systems to ensnare youth accounts without overblocking legitimate teens and adults — an accuracy challenge that will influence trust. Courts could get involved if challenges continue and policymakers will reconsider whether enforcement should shift to app stores, operating systems or ISPs.
The immediate conclusion is obvious: Australia has passed the buck to tech companies to prevent under-16s from accessing popular social networks. How well age checks hold up at scale, and whether families simply route around them, will ultimately decide if this ambitious experiment enhances online safety or just moves where and how young people spend their time on the web.
