More than 40 per cent of young Australians are still using social media despite Australia’s world-leading under-16 ban taking effect last December, the first major study into the laws has revealed.
Official data from the eSafety Commission found that before the social media ban came into effect, about 52.4 per cent of under-16s had social media, the research has shown a drop to 42.1 per cent after the ban came into effect.
The teen learned about the gesture on social media app Tiktok. Getty
But numerous young people are bypassing the ban, with half of those still on apps such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, not even asked to verify their age by the tech giants.
The data also found that one in three faked their date of birth to bypass the restrictions.
An additional one in five also said their age had been incorrectly estimated by social media giants, allowing them to continue using the platforms as normal.
Six months into the world-first ban, more than 60 per cent of nine.com.au readers called the ban ineffective in an exclusive survey, and experts across multiple fields agreed.
About 70 per cent of Aussie teens who had social media before the ban was enforced said they still had access, and eSafety had reported no discernible drop in reports of online harm like cyberbullying and image-based abuse from under-16s.
Meanwhile, teens who have been booted from platforms like Facebook and Reddit reported a marked decline in news engagement.
eSafety reported that more than 4.7 million accounts were removed from age-restricted platforms in the first weeks of the ban, but thousands of teens reported their accounts were totally unaffected.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in May that progress is being made but it takes time to undo more than 20 years of social media entrenchment.
“Meaningful regulatory impact is rarely achieved in months; major cultural resets eventuate over years,” she said.
“My team is working every day to achieve the strongest possible outcomes.”
eSafety also reported no large drop in reports of online harm like cyberbullying and image-based abuse from under-16s in a March update.
While some may view these numbers as concerning, it is important to remember Australia’s teen social media ban is still in its infancy, and it will take years for its full impact to become clear.
