Australian teens have rapidly found ways to bypass new age restrictions that prohibit minors from using major social media platforms.
Last year, a liberal-dominated Australian parliament passed an amendment to its online safety legislation, imposing age limits on certain social media services. As of December 10, children under the age of 16 in Australia are prohibited from accessing platforms including Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube — with violations potentially resulting in fines exceeding $32 million.
Within minutes of the ban taking effect, minors reported successfully circumventing the government’s age-verification technology. One common method involves simply frowning at the camera to appear older.
“They know how important it is to give kids more time to just be kids,” said a group of teens when asked about their tactics.
Noah Jones, a 15-year-old from Sydney, explained that he used his brother’s identification card to regain access to Instagram after the platform flagged him as too young. When Snapchat similarly prompted for age verification, Jones stated: “I just looked at [the camera], frowned a little bit, and it said I was over 16.”
Jones suggested some teens might turn to less-regulated platforms that are harder for authorities to monitor. “Where do you think everyone’s going to?” he asked. “Straight to worse social media platforms — they’re less regulated, and they’re more dangerous.”
Zarla Macdonald, a 14-year-old in Queensland, considered joining a less-regulated app called Coverstar but has remained on TikTok and Snapchat because the age-verification software mistakenly identified her as 20. “You have to show your face, turn it to the side, open your mouth, like just show movement in your face,” Macdonald said. “But it doesn’t really work.”
Beyond frowning and fake IDs, some teens are using stock images, makeup, masks, and fake mustaches to trick the age-verification systems. Others are resorting to virtual private networks or their parents’ accounts.
The social media ban came into effect months after a government-commissioned study surveyed 2,629 children aged 10 to 15.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that “Parents, teachers, and students are backing in our social media ban for under-16s. Because they know how important it is to give kids more time to just be kids — without algorithms, endless feeds and online harm. This is about giving children a safer childhood and parents more peace of mind.”
A photo accompanying Albanese’s statement featured a girl expressing opposition to the ban. The Prime Minister’s selection of imagery has drawn particular scrutiny.
Additionally, Reddit filed a lawsuit in Australia’s High Court seeking to overturn the ban, arguing it infringes on free political speech protected by Australia’s constitution. Australian Health Minister Mark Butler criticized the lawsuit as being motivated by profit rather than child safety: “It is action we saw time and time again by Big Tobacco against tobacco control, and we are seeing it now by some social media or Big Tech giant.”
