Australia will on Wednesday become the world’s first country to enforce a minimum age for social media use, requiring major platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to block users under 16 or face penalties of up to A$49.5 million (US$33 million). The move is expected to trigger similar regulation globally, said a Reuters report.
Beginning at midnight, ten major platforms must prevent access for under-16s. The law has drawn strong opposition from tech giants and free-speech groups but has been welcomed by parents and child-safety advocates.
The rollout follows months of debate over whether governments can effectively bar children from technologies embedded in modern life. It also marks the start of a closely watched international experiment, as policymakers worldwide seek stronger intervention after years of frustration with what they call Big Tech’s slow response to online harm.
Countries from Denmark to Malaysia, and even several U.S. states, where some safety features have been rolled back, are weighing similar rules. The push gained momentum after leaked Meta documents revealed the company knew its platforms contributed to body-image issues and suicidal thoughts among teens while denying the problem publicly.
“While Australia is the first to adopt such restrictions, it is unlikely to be the last,” said Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University. “Governments everywhere are watching how Big Tech has finally been challenged. Australia’s ban is the canary in the coal mine.”
A spokesperson for the UK government, which this year began requiring pornographic websites to block under-18 users, said it was “closely monitoring Australia’s approach,” adding that “nothing is off the table” regarding children’s safety.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, responsible for enforcing the ban, has commissioned Stanford University and 11 researchers to track its effects on thousands of young people over at least two years.
The ban currently applies to ten platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, though the government says the list will evolve as new apps emerge and young users migrate. All have agreed to comply, using age inference tools, selfie-based age estimation, ID verification, or linked bank information, except Elon Musk’s X.
Musk has criticised the policy as “a backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians.” Other platforms have warned that the rules infringe free-speech rights.
Industry analysts say the change comes amid shrinking engagement and levelling user numbers. Although under-16s generate little advertising revenue, platforms say the ban cuts off a critical stream of future users; currently, 86% of Australians aged 8-15 use social media.
“The era of social media as a space of unrestrained self-expression is ending,” said Terry Flew, co-director of the University of Sydney’s Centre for AI, Trust and Governance. Platforms introduced measures such as a minimum age of 13 and heightened teen privacy protections, he said, but “if that had been the structure during social media’s boom years, we wouldn’t be having this debate today.”
