Social Media Restrictions for Under 16s
In December 2025, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act came into effect. It imposes a minimum age of 16 for the use of many social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok. This page outlines the new social media laws.
Age restrictions on social media
The Act designates certain electronic services as age-restricted social media platforms and impose duties on operators to take steps to prevent people under 16 from having accounts.
The following services and platforms are age restricted: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, SnapChat, TikTok, Reddit, Threads and Kick, with more social media platforms and services likely to be added over time.
Operators of platforms must take steps to shut down or deactivate accounts that belong to users under 16. They must also take reasonable steps to prevent people under 16 from starting accounts.
The Commissioner has powers to investigate and report on the compliance of service providers with the new laws.
Some services not affected
Many online services and platforms have not been affected by the laws and people under 16 may continue to use them. Whatsapp, YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and Messenger are unchanged by the laws.
Offences
Service providers are required to take reasonable steps to prevent people under 16 from having accounts with their platforms. A civil penalty of up to 150,000 penalty units (almost $50 million) applies for failure to do so.
However, young people themselves are not subject to penalties if they use social media services contrary to the restrictions.
Age verification and privacy
When a social media provider suspects that a user is under 16, it must ask them to verify their age. The user is given a range of options for doing this. This may include providing identification or using age verification software.
Each social media platform may choose the methods that it uses to verify the age of users. This only occurs in cases where the provider has a reason to suspect a person may be under 16.
Social media platforms must not use or disclose personal information gathered for the purpose of preventing children under 16 from holding accounts for any purpose other than determining whether a person is an age-restricted user.
Rationale for limiting social media use to over-16s
The government explained that the laws were aimed to ‘shift the paradigm’ of social media use from one based on user engagement to one that contains an expectation that operators exercise social responsibility to ensure the safety of their users.
The previous minimum age for use of all major social media platforms was 13, which derived from US privacy law.
Limiting social media use to over-16s aims to restrict use of these platforms to people who have passed the most vulnerable developmental age.
The government has identified numerous harmful aspects of social media use by young people, including bullying, abuse, viewing misogynistic and violent content and preoccupation with body image. It has also cited the difficulties parents experience in regulating social media use as another reason the changes are needed.
Responses to the changes
The changes were met with mixed responses.
Opponents included the Australian Human Rights Commission, which stated that the laws have the potential to ‘significantly interfere with the rights of children and young people’.
Many critics viewed the changes as likely to be ineffective in keeping young people off social media as they do not prevent young people from viewing content from someone else’s account or from viewing content without being logged in.
The changes were also questioned by those who saw social media as playing a positive role in the lives of young people – for example, as a medium for constructive activities such as activism and a way of allowing teenagers access to important social support.
Others hailed the proposals as overdue and necessary to protect young people.
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Go To Court Lawyers.
Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.
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