Media

Study: 80% of Australian Kids on Social Media Despite Ban

Is Australia's social media ban a bold step for child safety or a costly policy failure?

Published AUG 4

Study: 80% of Australian Kids on Social Media Despite Ban

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Above: Social media networking apps are displayed on a phone, with the eSafety Commissioner website in the background, in Sydney on Dec. 7, 2025. Image credit: George Chan/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Australia's social media ban for under-16s is a bold step that's already shifting the conversation around child safety online. Millions of accounts have been shut down, and parents now have more leverage to encourage kids to engage with real-world experiences. Just like minimum drinking age laws, imperfect compliance doesn't make the policy wrong.

Andrew Leigh

Ali Moheyaldeen on X

Government-critical narrative

Spending $20 million on a social media ban that left more than 80% of kids still scrolling is a policy failure by any honest measure. Adults face age-verification hassles, businesses absorb compliance costs, and instead of admitting the policy isn't working, the government's answer is to double down. That's not a bold step, but taxpayer money burned for a headline.

Connor Young on X

Juleena Farrell on X

Rob Smith on X

Establishment-critical narrative

Age verification isn't free — it means every user, not just kids, hands over ID or biometric data just to log into ordinary platforms. This normalizes mass identity checks online and gives governments a backdoor to control adult speech and anonymity too. Once that infrastructure exists, mission creep is the default — surveillance tools built for one purpose rarely get dismantled.

Electronic Frontier Foundation FIRE