How countries are banning under-16s from social media — and how Instagram, TikTok and YouTube enforce it | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #childsaftey

The real challenge now is not whether children should be restricted from social media, but how governments and technology companies can enforce the rules effectively.

The UAE announced that children under 15 will no longer be allowed to create or operate personal social media accounts, while teenagers aged 15 and 16 can access platforms only under stricter safeguards such as parental supervision, content filtering and limits on interactions with strangers. Platforms have one year to comply.

These countries have introduced stricter parental consent, age verification or screen-time controls, but not blanket under-16 social media bans:

Rather than focusing only on age limits, many governments are making platforms legally responsible for keeping underage users off their services.

For years, most social media companies relied on one simple question during sign-up: “What is your date of birth?”

Governments increasingly argue that self-declared ages are ineffective because children can simply enter a false birthday.

New laws, therefore, require platforms to use stronger age-verification methods to make the rules workable.

Australia’s legislation deliberately avoids prescribing one single technology, instead requiring platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent children under 16 from creating accounts. The UAE similarly requires platforms to use robust verification that goes beyond self-declared ages.

Rather than depending solely on birthdays entered during registration, the company analyses signals including:

If Meta believes a teenager is pretending to be an adult, the account can automatically be switched into a Teen Account with stricter protections.

Users may then be asked to upload a government-issued ID or record a short video selfie analysed by facial age-estimation technology.

TikTok combines several approaches on its platform.

YouTube relies largely on Google’s broader identity system for age verification.

Depending on location and content being accessed, users may be asked to verify their age through:

Australia’s new law specifically includes YouTube among platforms covered by the under-16 ban after regulators concluded it functions as a social platform rather than simply a video service.

Snapchat has introduced Family Centre, allowing parents to:

The company also performs additional age checks on Snapchat where required by local law, but has generally focused more on parental supervision than mandatory identity verification.

The gaming platform has introduced one of the industry’s most comprehensive age assurance systems. Users can verify their age through facial age estimation using a video selfie, government-issued ID or parent-linked accounts.

Roblox automatically assigns younger users to age-based account types.

Communication features are also restricted based on verified age, with younger users prevented from chatting with significantly older players.

X and Reddit continue to rely primarily on user-declared ages across many markets.

However, both companies have begun introducing stronger verification where national laws require it, particularly in Australia and parts of Europe.

Industry observers expect these verification systems to expand as more countries introduce mandatory age restrictions.

Australia has provided the first real-world test of the new approach.

Within days of the law taking effect, Meta said it had removed nearly 550,000 underage accounts across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Other platforms also began rolling out age checks and account removals.

Researchers caution that determined teenagers continue to find workarounds, including using VPNs, borrowed identities and alternative sites that remain outside current regulations.

Public reaction has been sharply divided.

Many parents have welcomed stronger protections against cyberbullying, damaging content, online predators and excess screen time.

Governments have cited growing evidence linking heavy social media use with anxiety, sleep disruption and mental health problems among children.

Technology companies, meanwhile, have argued that blanket bans risk pushing teenagers towards less regulated corners of the internet. Privacy advocates have also questioned whether widespread age verification would require users to share more personal data than before.

As more countries prepare similar laws, the next battleground will be less about legislation and more about technology: whether platforms can accurately determine who is really behind the screen without violating user privacy.