Australia's under-16 social media ban cuts account ownership 10 points
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
The share of Australian children under 16 with social media accounts dropped to 42.1 percent from 52.4 percent three months after a nationwide ban took effect, according to the first government report on the law’s impact. Overall access to restricted platforms fell only modestly, to 81.5 percent from 85.9 percent, as many services remain accessible without an account. At the same time, use of non-restricted platforms including Pinterest climbed to 21.8 percent.
Account Ownership Decline
The eSafety Commissioner’s survey of more than 4,100 families found that under-16s with an account on any restricted platform fell 10.3 percentage points to 42.1 percent in March 2026. Reddit held steady at 3.6 percent, while Threads (up to 2 percent from 1.5) and Kick (0.6 from 0.2) saw small gains. One-third of children reported their account had been deactivated due to the ban. The study found no statistically significant change in AI chatbot usage.
Persistent Platform Access
Despite the drop in account ownership, 81.5 percent of children still accessed at least one restricted service in the previous four weeks, a decline of only 4.4 percentage points from before the ban. YouTube was the most-used platform at 73.6 percent, while over a quarter used TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. The current rules cover Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube, many of which allow browsing without logging in.
Migration to Unrestricted Services
Usage of platforms not covered by the law grew markedly: Pinterest rose from 16.6 to 21.8 percent, BeReal from 0.2 to 2.2 percent, and Mastodon reported its first users at 0.7 percent. The proportion of children feeling they were missing out by not having social media fell from 43.3 to 36.3 percent, a statistically significant decline. The eSafety Commissioner is conducting a two-year study to track longer-term effects.
What's Next
The regulator will publish additional findings from the ongoing study in the coming months as more data is collected. It remains unclear whether the ban will achieve a sustained reduction in social media use among children, especially as workarounds and alternative platforms emerge, while other nations watch Australia’s experiment closely.
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Australia's under-16 social media ban cuts account ownership 10 points
