Australia's landmark ban on social media accounts for users under 16 is faltering at its earliest stage, a new study has found. Since December, platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube have been required to block underage users through "reasonable" verification steps.
Researchers from testing firm KJR opened 50 test accounts declaring the user's age as 16 across nine of ten restricted platforms. None were asked to prove their age. Some accounts even received ads for youth-targeted products, suggesting platforms had registered them as minors without further checks. One account on X reportedly received adult content.
Only Kick an Australia-based streaming platform, refused registration without age proof.
Meta said its guidance calls for stricter checks only when behavior suggests a user is underage and questioned whether the test accounts mimicked real usage. Snap and TikTok declined comment; Google and X did not respond.
Child-safety advocates who advised the original trial say they had long warned that the process failed to test real-world workarounds, such as minors entering false birthdates now reportedly a common tactic.
Australia's eSafety regulator maintains platforms have adequate tools to enforce the ban, though it has already doubled fines and threatened legal action against non-compliant firms after reports the rule had little real effect.
Analysts advising the ongoing two-year review say more meaningful compliance data may emerge as platforms shift from basic self-declaration checks to deeper age-inference methods.
