Australia's social media age limit draws mixed international responses six months in

Australia introduced restrictions barring people under 16 from major social media platforms in December 2025. The rules require platforms to verify user ages and remove accounts belonging to younger users. More than five million accounts have been deactivated since the rules took effect.

Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that the number reflects multiple accounts per user and expected circumvention attempts.

Compliance data and enforcement eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told Senate estimates that the law was drafted quickly and described enforcement as difficult. She compared the task to fencing the ocean. An eSafety March compliance report found that about 70 percent of children who previously held accounts on Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube were still using the platforms.

Only 31 percent of surveyed children reported ever undergoing face scanning for age verification. No platform has been fined for violations, though penalties can reach $49.5 million per breach. The regulator is investigating five major platforms for allowing repeated age-check attempts.

International reactions More than a dozen countries have announced plans to introduce similar restrictions, according to Wells. Canada introduced legislation this week, and the European Commission has signaled a proposal for this northern summer. Britain is weighing targeted restrictions on addictive features rather than a blanket ban.

The Trump administration has described foreign regulation of U.S. technology companies as an unfair trade barrier. Pureprofile survey data released last week showed 76 percent of Australians support the restrictions, up from 73 percent before implementation.