A teenager holds a mobile phone displaying a message from social media platform Instagram after the account was locked for age verification in Sydney on December 9, 2025. STR / AFP
Australia banned young teenagers from social media on Wednesday, December 10, launching a world-first crackdown designed to unglue children from addictive scrolling on the likes of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. A raft of the world's most popular apps and websites face US$33 million fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16.
Australia becomes one of the first nations to so forcefully push back against tech titans wielding immense political power. The government says unprecedented measures are needed to protect children from "predatory algorithms" filling phone screens with bullying, sex and violence.
"Too often, social media isn't social at all," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said ahead of the ban. "Instead, it's used as a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators."
The laws came into effect after midnight local time across Australia. Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will wake up to find themselves locked out of apps they once scrolled for hours each day.
