More than half of Australian children still using social media despite ban

New research has found that 61% of Australian children aged 12 to 15 are still using restricted social media apps despite the ban on their use for under-16s.

The first major poll since the social media ban was conducted by Youthinsight in Australia, along with the Molly Rose Foundation. They polled over 1,000 children aged 12 to 15 and found that three in five of those surveyed still had access to accounts on banned social media services. Over half of TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram child users were still able to access their accounts.

In the majority of cases, social media platforms have simply failed to deactivate and remove accounts for under-16s, so children have not needed to use proactive workarounds. Half of children who used the platforms before the ban came into effect said that it made no change to their online safety. One in seven (14%) said that the ban had actually made them feel less safe online.

This data raises questions about the effectiveness of Australia’s social media ban as the UK government conduct a consultation about whether to introduce similar restrictions. The Molly Rose Foundation warns that the ban risks giving parents a false sense of security, and leaves tech companies off the hook for safety failings, adding that a UK ban would be a ‘high stakes gamble’

Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation, Andy Burrows, said: “These results raise major questions about the effectiveness of Australia’s social media ban and show it would be a high stakes gamble for the UK to follow suit now … it only lets tech firms off the hook and fails to give children the step change in online safety and wellbeing they need.”

Ian Russell, Chair of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “Parents are united that change is needed to protect children from appalling harm online and it is crucial we see effective action that delivers the safety and wellbeing improvements we are crying out for. The Prime Minister is right that tackling addictive and dangerous design choices is key. He must now put words into action with strengthened regulation that cuts to the heart of business models that put profit over safety.”

The Molly Rose Foundation are calling for action to tackle the addictive design features of social media platforms, artificial intelligence, and online gaming. They want to see the Online Safety Act, which CARE helped to enact, strengthened by adding a duty of care on tech companies to reduce harm from online platforms.