ABC Religion & Ethics
Timothy Koskie Posted 12 Jan 2026, updated 13 Jan 2026
Now that we’ve reached the one-month mark since Australia implemented its closely scrutinised social media age restrictions policy on 10 December 2025, what may be most remarkable is what hasn’t happened. There has been no spiralling backlash, no rapid escalation of unintended harms and no policy meltdown. For a reform as contested as this one was, that absence is significant.
While some global commentators took a more measured or curious perspective to the policy, others were quick to criticise it for being either too draconian or not going far enough.
One month in, young people are indeed finding ways to circumvent the restrictions — often with the help of their parents. But focusing on this misses the point: laws like these aren’t about perfect enforcement. They’re part of a broader cultural shift that they both shape and reflect.
While it’s too soon to assess the ban’s long-term consequences, one thing is already clear: as a democratic exercise, a cultural movement and a test of whether credible regulation can change platform behaviour, Australia’s social media ban is so far doing what policy is meant to do.
Did implementation meet expectations?
My recent research analysing surveys and submissions to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society found that most parents wanted a clear sign the government was willing to intervene after years of platform self-regulation had failed to protect young users.
So far, the age restrictions rollout has been cautious rather than dramatic. It has relied heavily on educational and community resources, campaign materials, standard-setting and public communication rather than hard enforcement. That is what many stakeholders expected and arguably preferred at this early stage, as an effective policy approach to something as vast and complex as our growing online media environment.
The policy has not tried to do everything at once, with a sweeping lockout for youth on social media “overnight”. Instead, it has tackled the issue from multiple angles, tempering expectations and reducing the risk of immediate failure.
Improving safety, or shifting the problem?
The hardest question to answer after one month is whether the ban is improving safety or simply moving risk elsewhere. While the restrictions prohibit accounts for children under 16, they can still browse public content on platforms without logging in. The scope of the ban also doesn’t cover the expansive range of other platforms with comparable or worse content issues, such as 4chan, an image-based website known for hosting violent and adult content.
Initially, there was an appetite for alternative social media apps like Lemon8; however, these apps no longer feature in Australia’s top-rankings for app downloads which are now dominated by ChatGPT — itself a new source of concern for some parents.
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