As adults, are we aware of how our privacy, security, and digital rights are protected? How have our lives changed since we gained access to social media platforms to stay informed and keep up with global issues that require extra attention? How are the current digital policies and governance measures impacting our privacy and digital rights?
Social media platforms nowadays act as an efficient medium for delivering news and tend to draw users’ attention to the topics or issues each individual cares about, along with encouraging them to participate in discussions they are interested in, which fosters communication among one another in the same space they share (Suzor, 2019). The businesses that developed them have absolute power over how they operate, and their decisions are always final, with users bound by the terms in the service agreement. Social media platforms, therefore, affect individuals’ decision-making and impact public culture, social, and political life in many ways.
As of January 2026, the top five social media platforms widely used in Australia are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and LinkedIn, with active user counts of 6.5 million to 19 million (Correll, 2026). Based on the 27 million population (supported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics) in Australia, 25% of the population uses Snapchat, 33% of them use Instagram, and 50% of them use YouTube and Facebook on a daily basis. In addition, TikTok is rising as one of the most frequently used platforms among teenagers, and there is a steady increase in registered users on LinkedIn in Australia, with approximately 10 million. Such statistics show that more and more Australians rely heavily on social media platforms in their free time and spend more time using electronic devices to access information and news rather than traditional broadcasting channels like TV and newspapers. How has the generation switched from printed media consumers to digital platform users?
Given the consistent growth in the number of social media platform users, the Australian Government has been actively reforming policies and governance, drawing on European countries’ experiences to protect citizens’ digital privacy rights. The Privacy Act 1988 mainly focuses on promoting the protection of individuals’ privacy, recognising the protection of balancing individual privacy with the interests of entities for carrying out their functions or activities, and ensuring the privacy of individuals is respected while facilitating an efficient credit reporting system for individuals and organisations to follow within Australia (Australian Government, 2014).
If an individual has posted personal information on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), their information is therefore protected. Anyone can reach out for help via several websites offered by the Australian Government if they are concerned about harassment, bullying, or defamation (Australian Government, 2024). The government also suggested that individuals can lodge complaints about typical incidents after filing with the respective organizations, when necessary. It is undeniable that the Australian Government has been taking actions to protect its citizens; however, these efforts remain ineffective, as we still rely more on voluntary industry self-regulation and information-sharing forums to address misinformation or disinformation on digital platforms (Parliament of Australia, 2021).
To further protect the privacy, security, and digital rights of individuals, the Australian Government decided to start protecting individuals’ privacy and rights at an earlier age by introducing a social media ban for under-16s, effective on 10 December 2025.
Social media ban under-16s
Starting from 10 December 2025, the social media age restrictions are designed to protect Australian youngsters from exposure to demanding pressure and risks while being active on social media accounts since the generation tends to spend more time on mobile devices scrolling content that is harmful to their health and well-being development (Australian Government: eSafety Commissioner, 2025). Penalties are not for the under-16s who can gain access to social media platforms, nor for their parents, but for the platform operators, whose obligation is to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from having accounts on age-restricted social media platforms. Such actions imply that social media platforms have an obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or accessing their own accounts, as penalties apply when they fail to comply with this regulation. It is stated that courts can impose fines of up to 150,000 penalty units on corporations, equivalent to a total of $49.5 million AUD (Australian Government: eSafety Commissioner, 2025).
Effectiveness of the social media ban
Being the first country to impose a social media ban on children under 16, the implementation is definitely a brave move, as the positives and negatives will be acknowledged by other countries that are also interested in protecting the digital safety of children through diversifying the responsibility and obligation to the organizations.
According to the official data by the Australian Government, there were a total of 4.7 million under-16 accounts being removed access by mid-December 2025 and rules were amended in March 2026 for better targeting on Social Media Minimum Age suggested by the government, where compliance updates were also received as of late March though neither of the assessment methods had been changed (Australian Government eSafety Commissioner, 2026).
As it is still in its early stages, it is undeniable that this implementation is incomplete yet somehow effective. Platforms started to find their own ways for the identification of users’ ages, like selfie-based age identification on Instagram, current account data to do age estimation on TikTok, and other platforms with their own way, as long as they are able to justify their actions as ‘reasonable’ and proceed with implementation (Tapia, 2026). It is debatable whether the tools used by each platform are reliable and standardised, as each platform provides its own assessment of whether it can comply with the policy. Nevertheless, problems regarding misidentification arose without any surprise, as teenagers are able to find ways to pass through the age identification as required by each of them. The article also added that facial recognition tools are no longer trustworthy, as users under 16 can get away by using makeup, drawing facial hair, or faking, along with the algorithms.
The ban is definitely effective in a certain way, but fragile when it comes to real-life operations, since it forces the platform to give a helping hand in protecting the youngsters, yet stronger actions have to be taken for improving the enforcement and frequent reviews have to be taken to ensure it meets the requirements and standards as proposed by the Australian Government.
Implications of the ban
It is seen that Australia is trying to seize the initiative on taking actions towards social media platforms and regulating them by providing guidelines that they must be able to follow in order to enter the market, where platforms no longer have absolute power over how they run and provide services. They are trying to shift the current overreliance on voluntary regulations, as suggested, to a focus on digital policy and governance to govern the social media platforms after seeing the power they hold.
The social media ban on teenagers under 16s is just one of the stepping stones that help the Australian government plan ahead for its next steps in reshaping privacy practices and limiting the digital access that each social media platform and individual users hold, which further relates to user privacy, security, and digital rights.
In addition, such regulation exposed the technical problems and bugs of various facial identification methods, yet in the 21st century we still rely heavily on the faceID function to unlock our phones by scanning our faces into the database on our phones, which sounded safe and reliable before the social media ban took effect. It is therefore questionable whether our existing facial features saved will be able to gain access to our mobile devices, or whether our data is being stored securely on different social media platforms where we tend to post our updates or photos and videos via our personal accounts.
Rights and Privacy of citizens on social media platforms
On the digital and social side, citizens are being protected under the Privacy Act 1988 which safely stores their data and allow them to speak for themselves when they face difficulties or harassment related issues as this law protects Australian citizens’ personal information from being misused or exposed by social media platform. Social media platforms are definitely one of the best ways for people to communicate efficiently and get updates on what is happening around the world, yet the rights and privacy statements have to be further amended to make sure it could be functioned properly within the Australian landscape. In addition, after setting the ban on social media for children under-16s which is not as effective as expected, it is undoubtedly questionable whether the Australian Government will be able to take further actions in regarding to controlling the use of social media platforms for other age groups and generations.
How can the Australian Government act on protecting the rights and privacy of Australian citizens despite their age and take further actions on them efficiently?
References
Australian Government. (2014). Privacy Act 1988. Www.legislation.gov.au. https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A03712/2014-03-12/text
Australian Government. (2024). Social media. Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/your-privacy-rights/social-media-and-online-privacy/social-media
Australian Government eSafety Commissioner. (2026). Social Media Minimum Age: March 2026 Compliance update. In Australian Government eSafety Commissioner. esafety.gov.au. https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-03/SocialMediaMinimumAgeComplianceUpdateMarch2026.pdf?v=1776085876838
Australian Government esafety Commissioner. (2025, February 11). Social Media Age Restrictions. ESafety Commissioner. https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions
Campaign Brief. (2024, September 19). YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp named world’s most popular social media platforms by Viralyft. Campaign Brief WA. https://wa.campaignbrief.com/youtube-facebook-and-whatsapp-named-worlds-most-popular-social-media-platforms-by-viralyft/
Correll, D. (2026, February 1). Social Media Statistics Australia – January 2026. Socialmedianews.com.au. https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-january-2026/
Parliament of Australia. (2021). Chapter 7 – Improving digital platform transparency and accountability. Aph.gov.au. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Information_Integrity_on_Climate_Change_and_Energy/ClimateIntegrity/Report/Chapter_7_-_Improving_digital_platform_transparency_and_accountability
Suzor, N. P. (2019, July 18). Lawless: The Secret Rules That Govern Our Digital Lives (p.10-24). Cambridge University Press; Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/lawless/who-makes-the-rules/6688999078ABFE0821E84D76A055BE70
Tapia, M. (2026, February 25). Technical challenges in Australia’s under-16s social-media ban | The Strategist. The Strategist. https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/technical-challenges-in-australias-under-16s-social-media-ban/
Yussuf, A. (2025, December 23). Under-16s social media ban sees rise in alternatives in app store. Abc.net.au; ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-23/social-media-ban-on-under-16s-sees-rise-alternative-apps/106149676
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