TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, X, Facebook, and more – these are the major online platforms that will all inevitably be affected by the Australia social media ban.
In late November 2024, the Australian government passed the online safety amendment (social media minimum age) bill, which doesn’t just limit the access under-16s have to social media – it bans them entirely, threatening companies with fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (US$3.28 million) if they fail to comply.
If this is your first time hearing about this, then buckle up because here’s what you need to know about the Australia social media ban so far.
While the Australia social media ban has been passed, the details of it, like which apps are affected, is still being discussed. Source: AFP
What we know about the Australia social media ban
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese first announced plans to ban under-16s from using social media in September 2024. By early November 2024, he had proposed the legislation and introduced it in Australia’s parliament during its final two weeks in session in 2024.
In Albanese’s words, “there is a clear causal link between the rise of social media and the harm to the mental health of young Australians. We know that social media can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators.”
“Because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology, it is young Australians who are most at risk. That’s why we want to set the minimum age for social media at 16. As we develop and mature, we’re better at spotting the fakes and the dangers. We build up the mental resilience to ignore the worst of the nastiness,” said Albanese during the parliamentary proceeding.
While the bill has been passed, it is only expected to come into effect in December 2025.
There aren’t details about how the bill will work, only that social media companies are expected to take reasonable steps to ensure that their users are aged 16 and over. More information – including the exact platforms that will be banned – are expected as things progress.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants kids to be out and about, not only focused on the world inside their phones. Source: AFP
What people think about the Australia social media ban
When the legislation was first proposed by Albanese, six in 10 Australians were agreeable with the ban, according to exclusive research for the ABC’s Q+A shows.
One Redditor sums the scares that justify the ban succinctly: “Social media and algorithms are shaping minds in very scary ways. Neo-nazi radicalisation. Misogynist radicalisation. Eating disorders. Body dysmorphia. Influencers. Exposure to way, way, way too much disinformation and misinformation so people can sell you products. Most adults don’t have the digital or information literacy to guide themselves through social media, let alone their kids.”
In Kelly O’Brien’s case, perhaps a move like this one would have spared her 12-year-old daughter, Charlotte, from taking her own life. O’Brien strongly believes that the toxic effects of social media led Charlotte to this final decision, and it’s no surprise that she’s all for protecting others from the same fate.
There’s good and bad to being online, and the Australia social media ban highlights it pretty well. Source: AFP
But the counter-argument has its points too.
In October 2024, a month after the bill was passed, over 140 leading Australian and international experts signed an open letter to the Australian government expressing their concerns regarding the proposed social media ban.
In the letter, they emphasise that “a ‘ban’ is too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.” It could affect rights to access and participation, and create more risk for children who may still use the platforms. Platforms can also be disincentivised from offering child safety features for any younger users that do still “slip onto” them.
In the same month, Australian youth mental health service ReachOut reported that 73% of young people across Australia accessing mental health support did so through social media.
“We’re uncomfortable with the ban. We think young people are likely to circumvent a ban, and our concern is that it really drives the behaviour underground and then if things go wrong, young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they’re worried about getting in trouble,” said ReachOut director Jackie Hallan.
Hallan and ReachOut aren’t the only ones raising this very valid concern.
Experts and the public alike have voiced the most likely result of the Australia social media ban: under-16s will simply find methods around it or go underground onto less-than-savoury websites, potentially leading to an even worse outcome at the end of the day.
