A new report by Australia’s online safety regulator reveals that children in the country are easily bypassing the minimum age restrictions set by social media platforms. This comes as the government prepares to enforce a landmark ban preventing those under 16 from accessing social media, set to take effect at the end of 2025.

The eSafety report, released on Feb 20, combines data from a national survey of 8 to 15-year-olds along with responses from eight major platforms, including YouTube (Alphabet), Facebook (Meta), and Twitch (Amazon).

Despite social media companies generally restricting access to users under 13, the report found that 80% of Australian children aged 8 to 12 were using platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat in 2024. Notably, YouTube does allow under-13 usage when linked to a family account with parental supervision. However, none of the surveyed children who had accounts reported being blocked for being underage.

Additionally, 95% of teens under 16 had an account on at least one of the surveyed platforms. The report also highlighted a major loophole—while most services required users to enter their date of birth during sign-up, they relied entirely on self-declared ages without verification tools. Reddit was the only platform that didn’t require an age entry at all.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant emphasized that significant work is needed to ensure age verification is properly enforced, especially as the new minimum age law approaches. While some platforms, like TikTok, Twitch, Snapchat, and YouTube, have systems in place to detect underage users, others have not implemented such technology despite having the capability.

Most social media companies have conducted research on improving age verification methods, and some provide options for users to report underage accounts. However, gaps remain in enforcement, raising concerns ahead of Australia’s upcoming social media ban for children under 16.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from Reuters file.