this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
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Australia’s teen social media ban is a flop. But there’s no joy in ‘I told you so’ (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 week ago by Itwasntme223@discuss.online to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] TheDarkQuark@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (4 children)

How are they getting around it? I thought Australia implemented some sort of ID verification? And given that social media platforms notoriously refuse to run on VPNs, how are the teenagers bypassing the checks? Is everyone there using their parent's ID or something?!

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

How are they getting around it?

I mean, you’re quite literally writing this on a social media platform that doesn’t comply with their law.

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The platforms aren't complying with the law:

Of the parents who reported their child had an account on each platform prior to 10 December 2025, around 7 in 10 reported that their child still had an account on Facebook (63.6%), Instagram (69.1%), Snapchat (69.4%), and TikTok (69.3%). Around 3 in 10 reported that their child no longer had an account. One in two of these parents (48.5%) reported that their child still had an account on YouTube following the age restrictions coming into effect.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-03/SocialMediaMinimumAgeComplianceUpdateMarch2026.pdf

[–] TheDarkQuark@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I see. Thanks for the link.

[–] stphven@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

When I was required to provide ID, I just googled a random sample ID card and used that. Took all of 5 minutes.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 week ago

I thought Australia implemented some sort of ID verification?

To answer the question as written, you did think so. I'm mostly certain of this. Glad I could help.