The move will be in place from December 10, 2025 (Wednesday). Anyone under 16 in Australia won’t be able to keep or make accounts on social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, X, Facebook, among others.
The Australian Government passed a new law called the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 on 28 November 2024. This law introduces a mandatory minimum age of 16 for accounts on certain social media platforms. Once the law takes effect, even parents will not be able to give their consent to let under-16s use these platforms.
The Government says the social media ban is needed to protect the mental health and wellbeing of Australian children and teens. They believe the risks of social media, such as cyberbullying, harmful content, and online predators, outweigh the positives. A research report published as part of a series from eSafety’s ‘Keeping Kids Safe Online’ survey has tried to project the real picture related to the use of online platforms and experiences of harms among children aged 10 to 15 in Australia.
The report named ‘The ‘Digital use and risk: Online platform engagement among children aged 10 to 15’ claims that a significant portion of individuals reported exposure to harmful online experiences.
What type of online harm are children exposed to
Around 71% had encountered content associated with harm, and 57% had seen online hate, while 52% had been cyberbullied. More severe forms of harm were also recorded. 25% had personally experienced online hate, and 24% had experienced online sexual harassment. Additionally, 23% had experienced non-consensual tracking, monitoring, or harassment.
Other concerning behaviors were noted as well, with 14% having experienced online grooming-type behaviour and 8% having experienced image-based abuse.
According to eSafety website, the report draws on data from a nationally representative survey of 3,454 children aged 10 to 17 years living in Australia between December 2024 and February 2025.
A subset of this data, comprising responses from 2,629 children aged 10 to 15 years, was examined to explore their use of online platforms, their experiences of online harms and where these harms occurred.
Other key findings
As many as 96% of children aged 10 to 15 had used social media, and a majority had used a communication platform to chat, message, call, or video call others, with the figure reaching 94%. In addition, 86% had played online video games. The report also claims that while social media was the most common category of platform where children reported recently encountering most online harms, many children also experienced harm on communication and gaming platforms.
According to the eSafety website, the report draws on data from a nationally representative survey of 3,454 children aged 10 to 17 years living in Australia between December 2024 and February 2025. A subset of this data, comprising responses from 2,629 children aged 10 to 15 years, was examined to explore their use of online platforms, their experiences of online harms and where these harms occurred.