Australia's Social Media Ban for Minors Fails Age Verification, Study Finds
The study shows that Australia's landmark social media ban, enforced since December 2025, has not achieved its core goal of preventing minors from accessing platforms, raising questions about the viability of age verification technology.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
A government study in Australia found that the world's first law banning social media use by minors is not functioning as intended. Three months after enforcement, nearly 90% of under-16s still use social media. Most platforms did not require age verification when the study created minor accounts, and only one platform, Kick, blocked creation without age proof.
Australia's social media ban for minors, the first such law globally, is failing its first test. A government team created accounts for minors on nine platforms and found that most did not require age verification. Only the locally based live streaming platform Kick made account creation impossible without age proof. The study suggests that mechanisms predicting age based on activity are not functioning. Snap and TikTok declined to comment; Google and SpaceX did not respond. Meta questioned whether the test followed guidelines that formal verification only proceeds when activity signs suggest a minor or an account is reported. An Australian regulator expressed confidence that platforms have the technology to comply.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- GIGAZINE オーストラリアの「未成年SNS禁止」は年齢確認が機能していない