Australia's social media ban… A looming implementation disaster
a day ago
- Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s takes effect December 10, 2025, with no clear enforcement plan.
- The law was rushed through parliament in 24 hours, with minimal public consultation and expert input ignored.
- Age verification methods are unproven, invasive, and likely to fail, with accuracy as low as 76% for 13-year-olds.
- Privacy advocates warn the law creates mass surveillance infrastructure, risking data breaches and civil liberties.
- Vulnerable groups—LGBTQIA+ youth, rural children, and those relying on social media for mental health—face severe harm.
- Only 25% of Australians believe the ban will work; experts call it a 'blunt instrument' that pushes kids to unregulated spaces.
- Platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok criticize the law as unenforceable, and VPN circumvention is expected to spike.
- The government admits it is 'building the plane while flying it,' with no fixed compliance standards or accuracy thresholds.
- Alternative approaches like safety-by-design and digital literacy were ignored in favor of a politically popular but ineffective ban.