Children under 16 banned from social media platforms - Media Release
Wednesday 10 December 2025
The Commonwealth Government ban on children under 16 years of age accessing social media platforms has come into effect and the Coalition Opposition are raising concerns about how the policy will work.
Shadow Minister for Regional Communications and Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said while the Coalition supported such a ban in May 2024 - months before the Albanese Labor Government implemented it – the Government has left children and parents with many questions unanswered.
“From today, kids under 16 can’t have accounts on major social media platforms. That’s a big change – and we all want this to work,” Dr Webster said.
“The problem is, Labor still can’t answer how the policy will actually work.
“Anika Wells – the Labor Minister responsible for the implementation – has been missing in action in this critical week.
“Everyone agrees we need strong protections for kids online, but right now families are still waiting for answers.”
The ban presently applies to Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, Kick, X, YouTube and Reddit. Reddit and a libertarian group supporting two NSW fifteen-year-olds have both initiated Court challenges, which will be heard in 2026 and not preclude the ban coming into effect.
Messaging apps like Whatsapp or Discord are not included in the ban.
Inaccuracies in age-verification technology mean children may still be able to access platforms. Some children are likely to pursue or have found workarounds. Alternate platforms are emerging that are presently not included in the ban.
As a member of the Coalition-controlled February 2020 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry Protecting the age of innocence – report of the inquiry into age verification for online wagering and online pornography, Dr Webster maintained her support for age verification to prevent online harm to minors.
“The internet is the public square of the 21st century. As Australian legislators, we have a duty to protect children and young teens from harm.
“Even so, there are so many questions about how this ban is being rolled out. At this point we just cannot be confident that this ban will achieve the Government’s aims,” Dr Webster said.
“Australians are once bitten, twice shy on big government after the pandemic. So forgive them for being worried about platforms trying to avoid $50 million fines by asking Australians for their sensitive personal identification documents, stored God-knows-where in the cloud.
“The Coalition has been very clear the social media ban cannot become a fast-track to government Digital ID. Age verification can and must be pursued without throwing Australians’ privacy out the window.
“We also cannot fool ourselves: online predators and workarounds will continue, the Coalition supports parental authority and we encourage parents need to remain vigilant. Please talk with your children about online risks, harms and unhealthy behaviours promoted online,” Dr Webster said.
While legislated parental consent requirements for minors accessing online platforms have existed since 2018 in Italy, 2020 in Germany and 2023 in France, no country prior to Australia today has banned all minors of a particular age from platforms.
The European Union, New Zealand, Malaysia, Denmark and Brazil are all due to implement bans similar to Australia’s in early 2026.
Dr Webster emphasised that the former Coalition government took two similar steps to take a lead worldwide against large, powerful multinational corporations:
· News Media Bargaining - in 2021 the Coalition’s News Media Bargaining Code required tech giants to pay Australian media outlets for accessing their content. Major media outlets are now receiving payments under what Labor has re-styled an ‘Incentive’ and while implementation is still tricky – initially, Meta shut down the Facebook pages of a host of Australian news outlets – the Coalition, took a a strong stand in Australia’s national interest
· Multinational tax avoidance – the then Coalition Government from 2016 attacked avoidance of paying tax in Australia by multinational corporations through its ‘multinational anti-avoidance law’. Prior to that, tax treaties and international efforts were being debated but the Coalition took multinational corporations to task in the Australian national interest.
