Australia is about to launch one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on social media use by children a move that could set off a global chain reaction.
From next week under a new law taking effect on December 10 anyone under the age of sixteen will be locked out of major social platforms. And the shift has already begun.
Meta’s Instagram Facebook and Threads started deactivating underage accounts this week with screenshots showing hundreds of thousands of users suddenly cut off. Other platforms including TikTok Snapchat and YouTube are also preparing to remove or freeze young users’ profiles.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says she initially had concerns about such a “blunt force approach.” But after years of failed attempts to regulate Big Tech she says the world has reached a tipping point.
According to her children simply can’t defend themselves against platforms engineered around addictive design data harvesting and persuasive algorithms tools she says even adults struggle to resist.
The new measure comes as 96 percent of Australian teens under 16 reportedly have social media accounts. Platforms that fail to comply face fines of nearly fifty million Australian dollars.
Parents across the country are welcoming the change. Many say it lifts pressure off families and gives their children space to disconnect rest and emotionally reset after school.
But the move is drawing global attention and pushback. Inman Grant revealed that tech companies lobbied not just in Australia but as far as Washington. The U.S Congress has now asked her to testify questioning whether Australia’s law exerts influence beyond its borders.
As the ban rolls out governments worldwide are watching closely to see whether Australia’s first domino becomes the beginning of a new global standard for protecting young users online.
