Australia's Landmark Under-16 Social Media Ban Is Failing, New Study Shows 85% Still Access Platforms

Australia's world-first ban on social media for children under 16 was hailed as a decisive strike against the youth mental health crisis. But three months after the landmark legislation took effect in December 2025, a new study reveals that the digital firewall is highly porous, with the vast majority of teenagers easily bypassing the restrictions.[1][2]

According to research published Wednesday in The BMJ by the University of Newcastle, 85% of adolescents under 16 report that they are still using the restricted platforms. The observational study surveyed 408 children aged 12 to 17 just before the ban was implemented and again three months later, finding insufficient evidence of any substantive early effects on social media consumption.[1][2][3]

Teenagers are employing a variety of workarounds to defeat the platforms' age-verification systems. The study found that two-thirds of the children encountered some form of age check, but most were easily defeated by self-declaring an older age or uploading a deceptive selfie.[1][3]

A significant minority of tech-savvy youth went further to ensure their access remained uninterrupted. Approximately 15% to 19% of the surveyed 12- to 15-year-olds reported creating entirely new fake accounts to evade detection, while roughly 10% utilized private browsers or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to mask their location and identity.[1][3]

The legislation, which carries fines of up to $33 million for systemic breaches, targets major overseas platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and X. However, early compliance reports indicate that while companies have taken some steps, the messaging on certain platforms actually encouraged underage users to repeatedly attempt age-assurance checks until they passed.[1][4]

Despite the glaring enforcement failures, public support for the ban remains remarkably high. A recent Monash University survey found that 79% of Australian adults support the legislation, citing concerns over bullying, extremist content, and the manipulative algorithms used to capture young attention. Yet, parents are finding themselves on the front lines of an unwinnable enforcement battle against their own children, with many acknowledging the difficulty of policing browser-based workarounds.[4][7]

The findings send a chilling signal to policymakers worldwide who have been watching Australia as a legislative test case. Earlier this month, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to introduce an explicitly modeled ban for under-16s by spring 2027. UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has insisted that Britain's use of highly effective age-verification measures will succeed where Australia's system has stumbled, though experts remain highly skeptical.[1][3]

In the United States, bipartisan momentum has been building for similar legislation that would ban platforms from delivering algorithmically recommended content to minors. However, cybersecurity experts warn that simplistic bans will always fail against a generation that has grown up native to the internet. They point out that anonymizing tools like the Tor browser are freely available and practically impossible to block, potentially driving children to darker, unregulated corners of the web.[5][7]

Researchers caution that while the immediate results are underwhelming, it may take years to measure the full generational impact of the legislation. In the meantime, the data suggests that the ban might be more effective at delaying initial access for children currently under eight, rather than successfully clawing back access from teenagers whose social lives and support networks are already deeply entrenched online.[1][3][6]