Researchers warned age verification checks are being bypassed and admitted there is so far little evidence of immediate reductions in kids’ social media use
Eight in 10 young people are still accessing social media in Australia despite a ban for under-16s having come into force, a new study suggests.
Researchers warned age verification checks are being bypassed and admitted there is so far little evidence of immediate reductions in kids’ social media use.
Keir Starmer last week unveiled a social media ban for under 16s in the UK, which is likely to be in place by early spring 2027. The PM has admitted it won’t be a silver bullet, highlighting how kids still find ways to get around the under 18s alcohol ban.
But the latest study suggests a majority of youngsters are getting around the ban in Australia, which came into force in December. Some 85% of participants aged under 16 reported still using social media platforms covered by the ban in Australia, mainly under their own accounts, according to research by Australia’s University of Newcastle.
The small study, published by The BMJ, acknowledged the ban is still relatively new and suggested it could be a decade before the full impact of it is known.
It said 408 children aged 12 to 17 were asked about their social media habits just before restrictions were introduced in December and then surveyed again three months later.
Of these two thirds reported encountering some form of age verification, most commonly self-declared age, or uploading of a picture. Almost a fifth reported using a fake account to get around restrictions, while around 10% said they used a private browser.
The paper stated: “The findings suggest that the period immediately after introduction of the Act was characterised by limited implementation, incomplete compliance, and substantial circumvention of social media restrictions.
“In this context, overall, we found insufficient evidence to conclude that exposure to the Act had any early substantial effects on social media use among adolescents aged under 16 years.”
Researchers said while there was “insufficient evidence of any substantive early effects” of the ban, the “potential benefits of the legislative change take time to manifest and often require investment in accountability and education mechanisms to encourage compliance and uptake”.
They described their findings as giving “key early insights that can guide government refinement and future actions to promote health and wellbeing”.
Separate research by the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) previously suggested three in five (61%) Australian 12 to 15 year-olds still have access to one or more accounts on restricted platforms. The survey showed major social media firms retained a majority of their child users, with 53% of previous TikTok users, 53% of YouTube users and 52% of Instagram users still able to access an account on these sites despite the ban.
In response to the latest study, Andy Burrows, MRF’s chief executive, said: “This important research shows that Australia’s social media ban has failed to keep under-16s off restricted platforms, nor made any meaningful difference to how long teenagers spend using high-risk sites.
“Keir Starmer announced a ban without a plan, and unless ministers have a coherent plan to urgently learn lessons, the UK’s ban will similarly unravel. Parents will be left with false hope and a misplaced sense of their children’s safety.
“The next Prime Minister must enter Downing Street with a convincing strategy that properly protects children from online harm, rather than relying on a performative ban which, as this research suggests, is unlikely to improve our teens’ mental health and wellbeing.”
MRF, which has long been against a ban, was set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful content online. Many other campaigners including bereaved parents have welcomed the UK’s ban, hailing it a “watershed moment for child protection”.
The proposed UK ban is expected to cover platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X but not messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal.
A Government spokeswoman said: “Our approach goes further than the Australia model and will be underpinned by stronger, more effective age verification checks to make it far harder for children to get round safeguards.
“As the Technology Secretary has made clear, this ban is as much about helping future generations, and resetting social norms in future, as it is about young people today.”