It’s been six months since the social media ban started. Teens say it’s still not working
Updated . First published at
Exclusive: Amy Heighes, 15, was locked out of her Instagram and TikTok accounts within hours of Australia’s teen social media ban coming into effect last December.
Six months later, she’s back on both platforms and says the ban – which has inspired other nations to float similar restrictions – has been totally ineffective.
Amy Heighes, 15, was back on age-restricted social media platforms soon after the ban came into effect last year. Amy Heighes
“Most people I know have still been using social media, even though they’re not 16,” Heighes told nine.com.au.
“Most people don’t think it [the ban] matters at all at the moment.”
More than 60 per cent of nine.com.au readers called the ban ineffective in an exclusive survey last month and experts across multiple fields seem to agree.
About 70 per cent of Aussie teens who had social media before the ban was enforced still have access, and eSafety has reported no discernible drop in reports of online harm like cyberbullying and image-based abuse from under-16s.
Meanwhile, teens who have been booted from platforms like Facebook and Reddit are reporting a marked decline in news engagement.
Experts are worried that as restrictions grow tighter, young people may just become more secretive about their social media use.
That could put them at even greater risk of the harm eSafety is trying to prevent.
Countless Aussie teens still on social media
Over the last six months, nine.com.au has spoken to teens, parents, experts and educators about the social media ban; most agree it’s not working.
Australia’s world-first under-16 social media social ‘delay’ (eSafety insists it’s not a ban) divided opinion long before it came into effect on December 10, 2025.
Proponents lauded it as a revolutionary step towards protecting kids online; critics called it a poor solution to a nuanced problem.
Many teens feared the blanket ban would cut them off from friends, communities and support online and negatively affect their mental health.
“The social media ban feels like a punishment for something we didn’t create,” Rose Pickles, 14, told nine.com.au at the time.
Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Skipper at mleach@nine.com.au
eSafety reported that more than 4.7 million accounts were removed from age-restricted platforms in the first weeks of the ban, but thousands of teens reported their accounts were totally unaffected by the ban.
Many of the rest quickly found workarounds.
When Heighes was locked out of her Instagram, she simply opened a new account and set the age to 20.
Her parents know about the account and don’t mind her having it, as they trust her to be safe online.
“I don’t think my life has changed at all, really, since the social media ban [started],” she said.
Some age-restricted social media platforms have pushed back against the ban but that has done little to deter eSafety from enforcing it.
Too soon to say if the ban’s working
Six months into the ban, there’s no clear evidence that it has made teens safer online.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in May that progress is being made but it takes time to undo more than 20 years of social media entrenchment.
Julie Inman Grant has made it clear that enforcement is eSafety's first priority. Alex Ellinghausen
“Meaningful regulatory impact is rarely achieved in months; major cultural resets eventuate over years,” she said.
“My team is working every day to achieve the strongest possible outcomes.”
eSafety also reported no discernible drop in reports of online harm like cyberbullying and image-based abuse from under-16s in a March update.
Kids Helpline reported similar findings, according to Tony FitzGerald is head of virtual services at yourtown, which provides the service.
“We’re not seeing anything yet that indicates one way or another whether the ban has been successful,” he told nine.com.au.
Teens that can still access social media are still being exposed to cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and other harmful content.
“We’re probably seeing a slight increase in contacts around sexual extortion, so it tells us that despite social media bans, young people still being exposed to really, really harmful experiences online,” FitzGerald said.
But those harms aren’t exclusive to social media platforms.
Teens who have been kicked off Instagram or TikTok can still face harm on messaging, gaming and other platforms.
“Even if the social media ban was effective, people would still be able to cyberbully people on group chats,” Heighes said.
FitzGerald added that Australia “can’t just focus on social media” as the sole space where young people are at risk online.
He also said some of the impacts of the ban won’t become clear until several years from now, when the first generation of 16-year-olds who never had access to social media start joining platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Heighes is an active teen with plenty of hobbies like music and rock climbing. She also wants to be on Instagram. Amy Heighes
Some unintended consequences ‘bad for democracy’
Some of Heighes’ peers have chosen to observe the ban and stay off social media, but they may face other issues.
Most teens report social media as their preferred news source and new research shows about half of those who have been removed from age-restricted platforms are getting less news because of it.
Rather than seeking out other news sources like websites, print or TV, many are disengaging from news altogether.
Digital media expert and Chair of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance Professor Michael Dezuanni, who co-authored the research, said it could have a major impact on the future of the nation.
“The long-term consequence is that they will be less likely to be well-informed about what’s happening in the world,” he told nine.com.au.
“And the ultimate knock on effect is that this is bad for our democracy.”
Cutting young Aussies off from their preferred news source could have serious implications for the future of the nation, experts say. Getty
Co-author and Professor of Digital Media at Western Sydney University, Tanya Notley said it could also make teens more susceptible to misinformation.
“This isn’t a good thing,” she told nine.com.au.
“It wasn’t the intention of the ban, but it’s the reality.”
Both agree the ban has been ineffective and said it may prove to have other negative unintended consequences as time goes on.
What happens next
Australia’s teen social media ban is still in its infancy, and it will take years for its full impact to become clear.
eSafety is currently investigating potential non-compliance by five age-restricted platforms – Snap, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube – and aims to decide about any enforcement action soon.
“I know there is strong interest in why fines have not yet been issued,” Inman Grant said recently.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a fine-issuing button. Rather, systemic non-compliance needs to be proven in court with solid evidence and complex legal proceedings.”
She confirmed eSafety had retained an external legal team to support its investigation and any subsequent enforcement action.
Despite the slow progress, countries around the world are already following in Australia’s footsteps.
Last week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned big tech companies they must prevent children from sharing nude photos online or face legislation, and there’s talk his next step will be to introduce an under-16s social media ban.
Denmark has announced plans to ban children under the age of 15; similar legislation has already been approved in France; kids under 16 can’t create new social media accounts in Malaysia; the list goes on.
Here in Australia, experts want to see the ban improved to better serve Aussie teens and their families before other nations start copying it.
FitzGerald said that unless coupled with education for teens about how to deal with online harm, and for parents about how to support their kids, the ban alone will not be as effective as it could be.
Dezuanni agreed there should be a greater focus on education alongside the ban, especially while so many teens still have access to social media.
He also said the government “should be spending much more time focused on getting rid of the poor quality content off these platforms rather than trying to keep the kids off”.
Heighes agreed that learning about staying safe online at school is helpful and understands concerns around social media addiction in young people.
But if adults really want to protect teens, they need to start listening to them.
“I don’t think adults understand how young people use social media, because they are not young people anymore,” she said.
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