85% of kids are still using social media despite ban. But we need a new measure to judge its success

Six months on from Australia's under-16s social media ban taking effect, the early verdict from headlines and children themselves has been blunt: It isn't working.

giovedì 25 giugno 2026 New tab

1,004 words~5 min read

Six months on from Australia's under-16s social media ban taking effect, the early verdict from headlines and children themselves has been blunt: It isn't working.

A new study published today in the British Medical Journal appears to add even more weight to that judgment.

Led by University of Newcastle public health researcher Courtney Barnes, the study found very little evidence that kids had stopped accessing restricted social media platforms such as TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram.

But the question, "Are children evading social media age checks?" might be the wrong one to ask when considering the long-term success of Australia's world-first experiment.

Isolating the effect of the ban