fter attempts to eliminate social media from kids and teenagers in Australia, it seems that children have figured out how to easily bypass the minimum age limit
imposed by social media platforms.
A recently reported issue on Thursday by Australia’s safety regulator showed that children could still acces social media platforms. ESafety’s report used results from a national survey held on social media usage by under-16-year-olds along with responses received from companies such as Alphabet, YouTube, Meta, Twitch, and Amazon.
In November, the social media ban was approved by Australia, forbidding children under 16 years old from accessing social media platforms, setting a clear benchmark when it comes to jurisdictions around the world. This ban is set to take effect at the end of 2025.
Even more so, social media companies worldwide do not allow children under 13 to access their platforms. The watchdog’s report found that 80% of children from Australia between the ages of 8 and 12 used social media in 2024, with YouTube, ByteDance, Instagram, and Snapchat being the most popular platforms.
All services except Reddit require date of birth authentication at the sign-up step, yet all platforms rely only on self-declaration not requiring other age assurance methods. Commissioner Julie Inman Grant from eSafety said “There is still significant work to be done by any social media platforms relying on truthful self-declaration to determine age with enforcement of the government's minimum age legislation on the horizon,”.
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YouTube, which will be exempted from the future ban, is the only platform that gives permission to under13 usage in the instance when the account is attached to a family one with parental supervision. Yet, none of the 8 to 12-year-olds who had access to accounts reported shutdowns, the report mentioned.
95% of teenagers under the age of 16 years old are using at least one of the social media platforms mentioned above. Even more so, platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitch have used tools that help them proactively detect users under 13, yet others did not, despite still having the technology available.
A TikTok spokesperson reported, “Since the start of 2023, our... proactive age detection tools, have resulted in the removal of more than one million Australian users suspected of being under the age of 13,”, reported Reuters.
By
Bill O'Neill
•
February 20, 2025 10:10 AM
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