University of Newcastle study finds social media age ban shows limited early impact

Newy 87.8 FM – New research from the University of Newcastle has found Australia's world-first social media age restrictions for under 16s have made little early difference to adolescent use of the platforms.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, followed 408 adolescents aged 12 to 17 before and three months after the introduction of the Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024.

The Act requires identified platforms including TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts.

Researchers found more than 85 per cent of adolescents under 16 continued to use restricted platforms at follow-up, with around two-thirds reporting exposure to age verification processes.

Lead investigator Dr Courtney Barnes, a University of Newcastle public health researcher with HMRI's Population Health Research program, said most adolescents who continued using social media did so with their own accounts, and the most common form of age verification was self-declared age.

"There was also clear evidence of circumvention — for example, using fake accounts or accounts belonging to friends or family," Dr Barnes said.

Co-investigator Professor Luke Wolfenden said the findings should be interpreted in the context of early implementation, with platform practices and compliance mechanisms expected to evolve over time.

The research team says the full impacts of the legislation may take years to emerge, and is recommending more rigorous, long-term evaluations.

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