Australia's under-16 social media ban faces setback as age checks fail to catch young users

Australia's efforts to enforce its landmark ban on social media access for children under the age of 16 are facing renewed scrutiny after a follow-up study found several major platforms are not consistently verifying users' ages during account creation, according to a Reuters report.The legislation, which came into effect in December, requires platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and X to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts. Companies are required to take reasonable steps to comply, with Australian authorities recommending multiple forms of age assurance instead of relying on a single verification method.According to Reuters, software testing company KJR, which previously participated in government-backed trials of age-assurance technology, created 50 test accounts across nine platforms covered by the law after the legislation took effect. All of the accounts were registered using a declared age of 16, and none were reportedly asked to provide additional proof of age before being granted access.The findings suggest that the first stage of the sign-up process may not be effectively identifying users who require further age verification. The researchers found that although platforms are expected to combine behavioural signals and other age-assurance measures, those additional checks were not triggered for the test accounts during registration.Reuters reported that all 50 accounts remain active. During the trial, some accounts received advertisements aimed at younger users, indicating that platforms may have identified their likely age group after registration. One account created on X was also reported to have been shown adult content despite the platform being covered under the age-restriction law.Also read: Children using social media over three hours daily linked to anxiety, depression: StudyThe study also found that users who declared themselves to be younger than 16 were prevented from creating accounts. However, among the platforms tested, only Australian live-streaming service Kick required users to provide proof of age before allowing registration.The findings come as Australia continues to tighten enforcement of its online safety law. After previously stating that millions of suspected underage accounts had been removed following the rollout, the Australian government has since increased the maximum penalties for non-compliance and warned that legal action could be taken against companies that fail to meet their obligations.According to Reuters, Meta said its system is designed to introduce stronger age verification when user behaviour or account activity indicates that an account may belong to someone underage. The company also said it was unclear whether the test accounts behaved in the same way as genuine teenage users. Kick said it does not currently have sufficient behavioural data to rely heavily on age-estimation technology. Snap declined to comment, while Google and X did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.The Office of Australia's eSafety Commissioner, as per the report, said it remains confident that age-restricted platforms have the technology and resources required to prevent children under 16 from opening accounts. The regulator also maintained that the recommended multi-layered verification framework is intended to reduce reliance on any single age-checking method.