By Madison Eve
Children as young as 10 are using fake photos and fabricating their date of birth in a bid to bypass social media age restrictions and defy Australia’s under-16s social media ban.
Ten months on from the Federal Government’s introduction of age restrictions for accessing popular social media platforms, a cross-section of young people surveyed by The Greek Herald say they have become “more creative” to defy the ban.
Eleven-year-old Levi said some of his friends had resorted to taking photos of their parents while they were sleeping to satisfy visual verification prompts on social media platforms.
“You have to do whatever works,” he said.
Greek Australian teen Elias said he continued to access social media platforms including Snapchat and Instagram to communicate with friends, share photos and view social media content despite the ban.
“Nothing much changed for me – I just put in a different date of birth,” he said.
“It [the ban] simply hasn’t worked.”
Twelve-year-old Greek Australian student Alexandra said parents played a role in enforcing the ban at home.
“A lot of my friends have experienced bullying online and my mum wants to keep me away from all of that for as long as possible,” she said.
Parents who support the under-16s social media ban say kids should have the opportunity to enjoy their childhood without the risks associated with online bullying and the relentless cycle of algorithms and social media content that can captivate their attention.
Julian Sefton-Green, a Professor of New Media Education at Deakin University, said research showed mixed reactions to social media age restrictions amongst children and families.
“Younger children tend to be more positive and perhaps rehearse the views of adults around them,” he said.
“The current 14-year-olds are different.
“Similarly, parents have a range of views – often depending on how old their children are, what social class they’re from and what their experiences have been.”
Prof Sefton-Green, who is part of the Academic Advisory Group for the evaluation of the ban, said balancing the rights of young people and protecting them from potential harm was a balancing act.
“There is never going to be a perfect balance,” he said.
“There is always tension in these relationships.”
Research found more than 80 per cent of Australian teenagers were still using social media three months after the ban took effect in December 2025.
Only 5 per cent of 14-15-year-olds were complying with the ban six months after its introduction, according to a survey of Australian teenagers by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was optimistic about the ban following its introduction, saying he hoped it would lead to more kids playing outside with their friends.
Prof Sefton-Green took a more measured approach and said the digital media landscape was evolving and education, parental engagement and open dialogue were essential when introducing big changes.
“Although the legislation is really attempting to control companies not kids, effectively it is taking something away from young people and it’s not clear that we are giving them anything by way of compensation,” he said.
“If kids do spend a lot of time on social media, we have to ask ourselves whether this is as much to do with the ways that we are bringing them up as it is to do with the social media itself.
“If we really care about our young people and the future of our society, we need to do more than just ban young people from being on social media because that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
