Australia is going where no country has gone before, and many countries around the world are watching. On Wednesday, Australia institutes a social media ban for anyone under the age of 16.
Banned apps include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, Kick and Twitch. Exempt apps include the popular gaming platform Discord, Messenger Kids, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom and YouTube Kids. AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, OpenAI's Sora and Google Gemini are not included in the ban.
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Australia will be the first country to launch this kind of age-restricted social media ban. Several other countries, including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Turkey, Uganda, Saudi Arabia and India have full or partial social media bans, typically for political and security reasons.
Other countries, including Denmark, France, Norway and Malaysia, are considering similar bans to Australia's and will be monitoring the effectiveness of the Australian ban over the coming months.
Although many studies have been conducted worldwide about the psycho-emotional effects of social media usage on children, the idea for the Australian ban took its spark from The Anxious Generation, a book by US psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Annabel West, the wife of South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, encouraged her husband to consider a ban after reading Haidt's book in 2024.
Tech companies must enforce it, or else
Apps can utilize age-assurance technology, such as facial and voice analysis, to verify that a consumer is at least 16 years of age. Social-media companies can also check how long an account has been active and assess age by language style and community memberships.
Kids being kids, they will find workarounds -- such as one 13-year-old who held up a photo of her mother's face to fool the age verification. The Australian government said it will prevent kids from using false identity documents, AI tools or VPNs to fake their age and location.
Tech companies will face a $33 million fine, as outlined in the legislation, if they fail to enforce the under-16 ban.
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