Australia made headlines in December as the first country to ban social media for anyone under 16. Four months in, the results aren't promising.
The Molly Rose Foundation polled 1,050 Australian kids aged 12 to 15 in March. They found that 61% of those who previously had social media accounts still have one or more active profiles. Even more telling, 70% of kids trying to access restricted platforms said it was easy to get around the ban.
The study concluded the ban has had no clear positive or negative impact on children's wellbeing so far. That's a problem for countries like the UK that are considering similar legislation.
Meanwhile, Australia's government is investigating major platforms for potential non-compliance. Snap, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are all under scrutiny, with enforcement decisions expected by mid-2026. The penalties aren't trivial, platforms could face fines up to $35 million USD.
For anyone building AI products aimed at younger users or family safety tools, this matters. Age verification is notoriously difficult to implement effectively, and this study shows that even government-mandated restrictions struggle with enforcement. The gap between policy and reality creates opportunities for better technical solutions.
The bigger question is whether top-down bans work at all, or if we need smarter approaches that combine technology, education, and parental controls. Australia is essentially running a live experiment, and the early data suggests we need better answers than blanket prohibitions.
