ZAP // DALL-E-2
Young people say they have not noticed any measures to remove or deactivate profiles, in what is the first study on the impact of the measure increasingly discussed by several countries.
More than 60% of minors in Australia continue to access social networks, despite the pioneering ban four months ago, according to a new study, which raises great doubts about the effectiveness of the measure that has also begun to be considered by several European countries.
The investigation was the first major investigation carried out since the ban came into force. He concludes that children and adolescents between 12 and 15 years old continue to use restricted platforms.
Among young people who already had accounts before December on networks such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, three out of five maintain access to at least one of these accounts.
The data also indicates that 53% of child users on TikTok and YouTube continued to be able to log into their respective accounts, as did 52% of Instagram users. Many of these young people said that the platforms did not take any action to remove or disable profiles created before the restrictions came into force. This was the case for two-thirds of ongoing YouTube users, 61% of Snapchat users, and 60% of Instagram and TikTok users.
The study was conducted online between March 12 and 31 and commissioned by the Molly Rose Foundation, an organization that opposes the adoption of a similar ban in the United Kingdom, and YouthInsight, which has access to Australia’s largest online youth panel, according to . In the UK, the government is consulting the public about whether to move forward with a similar ban or take other measures against online harm. Results are expected in the summer.
In addition to questioning the platforms’ ability to enforce the law, the investigation suggests that the impact on the safety of minors is limited. Half of children who used social media before the ban said the measure did not change their online safety at allwhile one in seven say they now feel less safe.
But other data point to positive effects. A YouGov poll carried out in March showed that 61% of parents of children aged 16 and under identified between two and four positive behavioral changes following the ban, including more face-to-face interactions, better relationships between parents and children and greater attention during family moments.
On the other hand, two in five parents also reported negative impacts, such as greater digital inequality, migration to other platforms and a decreased social connection.
In Australia, legislation obliges technology companies to prevent, on a large scale, the access of minors under 16 years of age to their platforms, under penalty of fines of up to A$49.5 million.
More and more countries want to ban minors from social networks
The list of countries that want to limit teenagers’ access to social media continues to grow, in a political movement that, just a few years ago, seemed unlikely.
A Greece became the most recent case, announcing plans to ban the use of these platforms by children under 15 from January 1, 2027.
The announcement was made on April 8 by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who reported difficulties in sleeping noticed in younger people, increased anxiety and design mechanisms considered addictive by platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. He also spoke about the pressure of constant comparisons with other users and denounced the problems with doomscrolling.
Following the public announcement, the Prime Minister also sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which he defends the creation of a common European framework to answer this question by the end of the year. Among the proposals presented by Greece are the creation of a standardized age verification systemthe repetition of this process every six months and the definition of a European “digital majority” set at 15 years old, that is, the minimum age to access social networks.
With this step, Greece joins a group of 10 countries which have already taken steps to restrict young people’s access to these platforms.
Australia was the first country to impose a total ban on a specific age group, by banning, since December 10, 2025, access to social networks for children under 16 years of age. The European Union has also taken steps in this direction, by requiring parental consent for users between 13 and 15 years old. In November, MEPs approved by a large majority a non-legislative report in favor of this age restriction.
