Australia is joining a wave of governments around the globe in regulating how kids spend their time online. On December 10th, most major social media platforms will boot children in the country under 16 from their services. Under the law, social platforms will also need to implement a “reasonable” age verification method there — while critics argue kids will get around it anyway.
These changes stem from Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill, which passed in November 2024. They’re not only a big deal for Australian youth, but also a preview of a policy that’s been floated in numerous other places. Here’s a rundown of what the new law means and how it will affect each platform.
What is the Social Media Minimum Age Bill?
Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill last year as an amendment to the Online Safety Act 2021, which holds a wide range of online platforms accountable for hosting harmful and illegal content online. The expanded version requires online social platforms to take “reasonable steps” in removing accounts belonging to users under 16, while preventing them from creating new ones, if they detect a user is from Australia. For now, it’s applied to at least 11 services: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Reddit, YouTube, Twitch, Kick, Threads, and even smaller platforms like the ByteDance-owned Lemon8. Bluesky is also banning users under 16.
Kids aren’t barred from browsing platforms while logged out, meaning they’ll still be able to do things like view Reddit discussions or individual Threads and Instagram posts. Without an account, kids can’t access a curated feed, communicate with other users, create posts, receive notifications, or save content.
The rule applies to platforms designed for the “sole purpose, or a significant purpose” of allowing interaction between two or more users, including ones that let users post content and “link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end-users.” This doesn’t include online gaming services, like Xbox Live, nor does it cover standalone messaging apps, such as Messenger and WhatsApp. Other apps not covered by the law include Discord, Pinterest, Roblox, and YouTube Kids. But the array of covered services could be reevaluated in the future, so the list of covered services may not be final.
Australia’s law doesn’t lay out how platforms should identify users who are under 16, only that they can’t require just a government ID, nor can they collect data associated with the age verification process. In August, Australia’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts published an extensive report on different age verification methods, including ID checks, age estimation with face scans, and age inference, which involves a platform using signals to “guess” how old they are. These signals can include an account’s age and a user’s behavior on the platform. Despite the flaws with each of these methods, the department determined that platforms can perform age verification “privately, efficiently and effectively,” though it acknowledged that there isn’t a “single ubiquitous solution.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the ban will give parents “greater peace of mind” about what their children can access online, while also ensuring “Australian children have a childhood.”
An Australian research group that studies the impact of digital technology on children links the ban to a 2024 book by professor Jonathan Haidt, called The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. The book argues that kids shouldn’t be allowed on social media before they turn 16, sparking a nationwide campaign, called 36 Months, which advocates for raising the minimum age on social media from 13 to 16.
But critics argue that there are better ways to protect kids online than by issuing a nationwide ban. Damini Satija, a program director at Amnesty Tech, calls the law a “quick fix,” adding that “better regulation, stronger data protection laws, and better platform design” are more effective at protecting kids online. Satija adds that young people “will no doubt find ways to avoid the restrictions.”
Reuben Kirkham, a director at the Free Speech Union of Australia, similarly tells The Verge that “most people can circumvent” the restrictions using a virtual private network (VPN). “It risks undermining online privacy and freedom of speech,” Kirkham says. “What is worrying is the lack of respect for internet freedoms from the Australian government. This is not a good look from what is supposed to be a modern liberal democracy.”
Meanwhile, the Digital Industry Group (DIGI), an Australian nonprofit that represents platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok, X, and Snapchat, warned the ban “could push young people into darker, less safe corners of the Internet that do not have the safety guardrails that exist on mainstream platforms.”
How does it compare to other age-gating regulations?
Australia’s new policy is different from the UK’s Online Safety Act, one of the year’s biggest child safety overhauls. The UK’s OSA doesn’t outright ban teens from social media, but it requires any website hosting content considered “harmful” — including Bluesky, Reddit, and Discord — to use age verification to identify and prevent children under 18 from accessing material related to porn, self-harm, violence, and hate speech. The restrictions have created new hurdles for adults trying to access these websites, though most can be easily bypassed with a VPN.
Several US states, including Texas, Mississippi, and Utah, have added age verification rules for social media, and a Florida law banning kids under 14 from social media and mandating age verification recently took effect. Though some state laws put the onus on individual platforms to verify the ages of users, a growing number are shifting that responsibility to mobile app stores owned by Google and Apple. The idea is also packaged within the federal App Store Accountability Act (ASA), which landed in Congress earlier this month.
The European Union may also be joining Australia in banning users under 16. Last month, the European Parliament expressed support for banning kids under 16 from social media, video-sharing platforms, and “AI companions” unless they get permission from a parent.
What are platforms doing?
Facebook, Instagram, and Threads
Ahead of the ban, Meta platforms warned users to save their contacts and memories before it starts restricting access. It will look for “signals” that someone may be underage — the same method it uses elsewhere to place kids into more restrictive Teen Accounts. Teens can regain access to their accounts when they turn 16.
Meta has objected to the law, however. “Experts, youth groups, and many parents agree that blanket bans are not the solution — they isolate teens from online communities and information, while providing inconsistent protection across the many apps they use,” Meta spokesperson Edward Patterson tells The Verge.
Meta is lobbying elsewhere for app store-based age verification, which would lift the pressure on it to check ages. But the company has long sought to keep young users glued to its platforms.
YouTube also announced that it will start automatically signing out users under 16 on December 10th, blocking access to likes, subscriptions, private playlists, and memberships. The platform will hide the channels belonging to users under 16, and they will no longer be able to access uploads, comments, or monetization. YouTube says it will use the person’s age listed in their Google account and “other signals” to determine a user’s age, adding that kids will regain access to their accounts when they turn 16. They’ll still be able to watch videos while logged out, and will also have the ability to download their data or delete their channel completely.
YouTube argues that Australia’s blanket ban will actually make YouTube less safe for kids, as teens will lose access to certain safety features, such as “Take a Break” notifications and bedtime reminders, and parents won’t be able to use parental controls or supervise their child’s account. In a blog post, Rachel Lord, YouTube’s public policy senior manager in Australia, says these are “the unfortunate consequences of a rushed legislative process,” adding that the law “fundamentally misunderstands” why teens visit YouTube.
Reddit will also begin predicting whether Australia-based users are under 16. Users detected as potentially underage will have to verify their age by uploading an ID or taking a selfie through a third-party identity verification provider, like Persona, which it also uses for users in the UK. New users signing up for an account in Australia will have to provide their birth date and “will be subject to an age prediction model.”
Reddit notes that it will continue deleting posts and comments made by users younger than 13, but will only suspend the accounts of under-16s, while also giving them the option to download their data or delete it altogether.
Similar to other platforms, Reddit opposes Australia’s new regulations, saying it “undermines everyone’s right to both free expression and privacy, as well as account-specific protections.”
Snapchat will comply with Australia’s new legislation by locking the accounts belonging to users under 16. The app will automatically deactivate these accounts after three years, but notes that users can still download their data during this period and reinstate their accounts when they turn 16.
As a result of the change, Snapchat will ask “many users” to verify their age using one of three methods: through a bank account, by scanning a photo ID, or by using facial age estimation. Snap will use an account’s declared age or signals from its platform to determine whether someone may be underage.
Though Snap is complying with the rule, it disagrees with Snapchat’s characterization as a social platform. “Snapchat is and has always been, a visual messaging app,” Snap says in a blog post. Similar to Meta, it supports age verification at the device or app store level.
Twitch spokesperson Megan Kay tells The Verge that the livestreaming platform will prevent users under 16 from creating an account starting on December 10th, before deactivating existing accounts on January 9th. Twitch is working with k-ID to verify users’ age by having them take video selfies.
Meanwhile, Kick, another livestreaming platform, has said it will also work with k-ID to offer age assurance methods, according to The Guardian.
As of December 10th, TikTok will block under-16s from having or creating an account on the platform. TikTok will also hide content posted by Australian users now considered underage. For now, kids can download their information, delete their accounts, or wait until they turn 16 to regain access.
Other users can verify their age on the platform with face scans through the age assurance platform Yoti, by uploading a government ID, or by using a credit card.
Lemon8, another platform owned by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, “will become a 16+ platform on December 10,” spokesperson Kelly Stevens tells The Verge. There aren’t many details about how it plans to comply with the law, or if it will implement age verification processes similar to TikTok. Lemon8 didn’t immediately respond to a request for more information.
Elon Musk’s X hasn’t yet outlined plans to comply with the law. In September, X said in a submission to Australia’s eSafety commissioner that the country should extend platforms’ deadline to comply, according to The Guardian. The company added that it has “serious concerns” about the “lawfulness” of the minimum age rule. Last year, Musk said the law “seems like a backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians.” X didn’t respond to requests for comment about its plans to comply.
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