Australia's social media ban not working, study finds

Australia's ban on social media accounts for children has failed to produce an immediate drop in use among adolescents, according to an analysis published this week in The BMJ. The study casts doubt on the world's first national age-based restriction, even as governments in Europe and North America attempt similar measures.

Researchers surveyed 408 adolescents aged 12 to 17 in New South Wales about their habits over the previous seven days. They were asked just before the law took effect, then polled again three months later. They were asked whether they encountered verification checks—and how they got around them.

More than 85% of under-16 respondents reported using platforms covered by the law at follow-up, most through their own accounts. Daily use held steady among 12- and 13-year-olds, fell modestly among 14- and 15-year-olds, and rose among those 16 and older. The law calls for TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat to keep under-16s from using the sites.

The authors noted slack age-checking efforts by platforms as a likely factor in the unimpressive results: only two thirds of children had run into age verification challenges and the most common form was self-declared age, passed simply by entering a false birthdate. Some, though, were required to upload a selfie—one of the key privacy compromises flagged by critics of the law. Others reported using fake or borrowed accounts to get around the rules.

However, findings were consistent after further sensitivity analysis, suggesting they are robust and, as such, they say this study "provides key early insights that can guide government refinement and future actions to promote health and wellbeing."

In an accompanying editorial, Dr Amrit Kaur Purba explains that these results offer valuable early signals. She stresses, however, that it is vital to distinguish policy effectiveness from implementation, noting that widespread circumvention and low compliance make it difficult to judge a policy's true potential.

The results land amid international alarm over youth social media use, which legislators link to declining adolescent mental health— though there's not so much science showing this as some media would have you believe. Others warn that age-verification mandates are inherently identity-verification systems.