Most Australian teens still on social media three months after under-16 ban began

AWANI

Australia’s social media ban for under-16s led to only a marginal reduction in underage users in its first three months, underscoring the lack of enforcement of the world-first law by major platforms. #AWANIinternational

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00:00Australia's ban on social media for under-16s has struggled to keep teenagers off major platforms,

00:06with more than 8 in 10 still using social media three months after the law took effect.

00:12The online safety regulator found 81.5% of children surveyed were still using at least one age-restricted platform

00:20in March,

00:21only slightly down from 85.9% before the ban was introduced in December.

00:29The regulator said most under-16 users were able to keep their accounts or create new ones,

00:35mainly because platforms lacked effective age-verification systems.

00:39The findings raised questions over the design and enforcement of the World First policy,

00:44which is being watched by governments considering similar restrictions on big tech.

00:49The regulator is now investigating Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube over possible non-compliance.

00:55The Australian government has also moved to double the maximum penalty for breaches to AU$99 million.

01:02Friday's report is the first evaluation of the ban as part of a two-year study tracking more than 4

01:08,000 children and families.

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