Australia's ambitious teen social media ban is faltering at the initial stage of age verification, according to a study that may jeopardize the effectiveness of this groundbreaking law.
Flaws in Age Verification System
You should be asked to demonstrate how old you are, and not once have we been asked to verify our age or use age-assurance measures.
Andrew Hammond, Director at KJR
In December 2025, Australia implemented a law aimed at restricting social media access for users under 16. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are required to take reasonable steps to enforce these age limits.
- Platforms did not request age verification for any of the 50 test accounts opened by researchers.
- Only one platform, Kick, enforced age verification measures during the study.
Despite the law's intent, a team of software testers from KJR found that no age verification was conducted on any of the accounts they created, even though they declared themselves as 16. This raises serious questions about the platforms' commitment to comply with the law.
Concerns about the effectiveness of the age-assurance process have been compounded by the fact that the platforms focus primarily on behavioral indicators rather than stringent checks. As a result, many underage users continue to access these platforms without restrictions.
The Australian government has reacted by doubling the maximum fines for non-compliance and has threatened legal action against the tech giants involved.
Andrew Hammond noted that while platforms are aware of age-assurance technologies, the initial stages of verification are inadequate. Dummy accounts even received targeted ads for products aimed at younger audiences, highlighting the failure to identify underage users.
In response to these findings, a Meta spokesperson asserted that the accounts were declared above the minimum age, suggesting that the results may not reflect genuine underage activity. However, this perspective does not address the core issue of ineffective age verification.
Experts in youth digital rights have criticized the initial rollout, emphasizing that a lack of real-world testing allowed for circumvention of the ban. Amanda Third, a digital rights academic, stated that the platforms were expected to target self-declared underage accounts initially.
As Australia grapples with these challenges, the need for an effective regulatory framework is more pressing than ever. The upcoming data collection and analysis will be crucial for determining the law's future success.