A few months ago, teenagers in Greece were the first in the world to be confronted with the ban of , with them expressing their dissatisfaction with the new decisions – an image reminiscent of the debates that are opening today in Greece as well. However, just four months later, the ban seems to have lost its momentum, as minors have already found ways to continue their presence on their favorite platforms.
Australia’s ban on the use of social media by minors under the age of 16 has been presented as one of the most stringent and ambitious measures internationally to protect children online. At the same time, surveys show that more than six out of ten minors still have access to social media, despite restrictions. More specifically, the survey shows that 53% of underage users on TikTok, 53% on YouTube and 52% on Instagram are still logged in regularly.
The Australian government had proceeded with a mass deletion of accounts, with millions of them removed in the first period of implementation of the legislation. In fact, Meta announced that it has blocked 550,000 accounts, but pointed out that there are still difficulties in reliable age verification. Despite this effort, the initial “clearance” proved to be temporary. Users quickly returned, creating new accounts and continuing their activity almost without interruption.
Source: Reuters
The tactics they follow and the role of parents
A decisive role in this seems to be played by the ease with which the restrictions can be circumvented. Minors state false ages when registering, use tools such as VPNs to appear as residents of other countries, or simply open new accounts as soon as previous ones are deleted. These technical ways are widely known and very easy to use, even for young users.
Even more impressive is the fact that in several cases the bypass is done with the tacit or even active participation of the parents. Some parents even allow their children to use their own accounts or provide their credentials to sign up, effectively undermining the ban’s implementation.
Although there have been some trends towards alternative applications, these have not been massive in nature. Most users preferred to stay on the known platforms, albeit in a more “unofficial” way. This reinforces the assessment that the social dimension of social media is so strong that it can hardly be limited by administrative measures.
Noah Jones shows a warning on his mobile saying he can’t access a social networking site in Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Many accounts are not found
At the same time, questions are raised about the role and responsibility of the technology companies themselves. Although they were forced to implement stricter age verification mechanisms, in practice these measures appear to be insufficient. Many accounts go undetected, while others are created anew without meaningful scrutiny, highlighting the limits of technological surveillance.
Some experts even express concern that the ban may have opposite effects than intended. Rather than limiting minors’ exposure to risk, it may push them to less controlled platforms or more “invisible” forms of use, where supervision is even more difficult.
So for many young people the ban has not really improved online safety. Instead, experience shows that attitudes remain the same, they just move outside the formal contexts.
Does technology have no limits?
The case of Australia highlights a wider issue for the regulation of the digital space. In an environment where technology is evolving faster than legislation and users are constantly finding new ways to adapt, bans are proving difficult to implement in practice.
The key question that arises is whether such measures can work effectively or whether a different approach is required. In this context, the discussion acquires special weight for Greece as well, where the imposition of corresponding restrictions is now on the table. However, Australia’s experience already serves as a cautionary example of the limits of such measures.
Enhancing digital literacy, greater accountability of platforms and meaningful involvement of families may be more realistic solutions than a blanket ban.
For now, however, the conclusion from the Australian experience is clear. Teenagers have not abandoned social media. They just learned to use them in ways that deviate from the rules.
