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Social media use among Australian children under 16 is climbing again, defying the country's pioneering ban, according to figures released Wednesday by a parental control software company. Australia implemented legislation barring children from social media platforms in December 2025, with the United Kingdom, France and others following suit.
Youngsters' social media use fell across the board when the legal restrictions were first implemented, data from parental control app Qustodio showed. But since then their social media activity has climbed, even approaching pre-ban levels for some apps.
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The use of apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat among 10- to 12-year-olds and 13- to 15-year-olds is on the rise, data from parental control app Qustodio showed.
In the case of the video-sharing site TikTok, 25.9% of 13- to 15-year-olds are still using the app—just over a percentage point lower than before the ban came into force. Meanwhile, use among 10- to 12-year-olds was just 0.06 percentage points below where it was before the ban.
"They could be accessing these platforms with VPNs (virtual private networks that mask a user's location and identity) or obfuscating their ages," Yasmin London, Global Online Safety Expert for Qustodio, said. "But it could really be as simple as they're just accessing these apps because the restrictions aren't working."
The data also showed children increasingly turning to the messaging platform WhatsApp, which is not affected by the ban.
Qustodio said the data was gathered by analyzing anonymized monthly social media app usage among Australian children, showing the percentages of kids who had used an app for more than five consecutive minutes at least once in a given month. Australian officials have said the ban is designed to protect children from online bullying and "predatory algorithms."
However, a team of Australia-based researchers in a peer-reviewed study published in June found little evidence to suggest teenagers have turned away from social media as a consequence.
New Zealand's government also announced this week that it would introduce legislation that could see firms like Meta fined up to 10% of their global revenue if they fail to comply.
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