Study Finds Most Australian Teens Are Still Using Banned Social Media Platforms

A new survey suggests Australia’s landmark ban on under‑16s using social media is being widely sidestepped, with a majority of 12- to 15-year-olds reporting they still have active accounts.

The Molly Rose Foundation, a charity focused on preventing online harm, polled 1,050 Australian children aged 12 to 15 in March. According to the findings, 61 percent of respondents in that age group who previously had access to the affected social platforms still maintain one or more active accounts, despite the national ban.

Australia introduced its under‑16 social media ban on December 10, positioning itself as the first country to take this kind of nationwide step. The prohibition covers major platforms, although the report does not list individual services in this context.

Just a few months in, the Molly Rose Foundation’s poll concludes that the ban has not yet shown a “clear positive or negative impact on children’s wellbeing.” The study also highlights how easily young users say they can evade the restrictions: 70 percent of children who attempted to access restricted platforms said it was easy to get around the ban.

Andy Burrows, CEO of the Molly Rose Foundation, said in a statement that the results pose “major questions about the effectiveness of Australia’s social media ban” and argued they show it would be a “high stakes gamble” for the UK to replicate the approach now.

While the foundation’s survey focuses on children’s behaviour and wellbeing, the Australian government has been running its own assessment of how platforms are complying with the new rules.

A government report published in March outlines ongoing investigations into potential non‑compliance by Snap, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Australia’s eSafety agency is leading these probes and is expected to decide on any enforcement action by the middle of 2026, according to the report.

The eSafety agency’s enforcement toolkit, as described in the report, includes:

• Issuing infringement notices
• Seeking court-ordered injunctions
• Pursuing civil penalties of up to A$49.5 million (around $35 million USD)

Together, the charity’s poll and the government’s early compliance review point to a rocky start for Australia’s first‑of‑its‑kind ban: children say they are still online in large numbers, and regulators are now weighing whether some of the biggest social platforms have done enough to stop them.