New research from Pureprofile has found most under-16s in Australia are still accessing social media platforms covered by the country’s ban, despite public support for the policy sitting at 76 per cent.
The study surveyed 1,025 parents, teachers and young Australians, and suggests enforcement has fallen heavily on families, with more than half of parents saying they have tried to uphold the restrictions at home, resulting in “overwhelming pressure”.
While support for the ban continues to be high, two in five (41 per cent) of under-16s say they’ve tried to get around the ban, with 43 per cent of parents saying their children have made an attempt.
“The findings suggest many of the concerns raised before the ban have materialised,” Martin Filz, CEO, Pureprofile, said.
“While support for the policy remains strong, parents are under overwhelming pressure to enforce it – fighting to control a highly tech-savvy generation accessing platforms via browser instead of in-app, using their friends’ accounts, signing up with fake birthdays and more.
“It’s clear the ban’s success or failure now rests firmly on what’s happening at home, at least until enforcement technology catches up to the reality on the ground. As the report suggests, success is generally strongest where families have the capacity and digital fluency to take an approach that balances relationship, education, sensible oversight and empowerment.”
The report also found age-verification measures appear inconsistent in both reach and effectiveness, with only 31 per cent of children reporting having undergone face-scanning age verification, and of those, roughly half say they were able to pass as over 16.
On the brighter side however, parents and children both reported participating in more outdoor and offline activities since the ban, with 77 per cent of parents finding its impacts positive (up from 47 per cent in 2025).
Activities like reading, sports and creative hobbies are being chosen over screen time.
“Even though the social media ban does require refining for a more consistent performance – as all new technology does – it’s also encouraging to see families taking the opportunity to spend more time outdoors and offline. Some children undoubtedly miss online interactions with their friends, but many are also making full use of their extra time for in-person socialising with family and friends.”
The report found that under-16s are “switching platforms” rather than leaving online spaces altogether, such as moving to YouTube Kids and accessing Discord instead of banned platforms. Some banned platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, on the other hand, saw increased usage for 8-12-year-olds in parent/child reporting.
While platform use may be changing, children’s exposure to harmful content remains significant. Nearly 3 in 10 (29 per cent) of 13-15-year olds and more than a third (37 per cent) of 8-12-year-olds report exposure to violent/graphic content, while 35 per cent of 8-15-year-olds have been exposed to content deemed bullying, harassment or hateful. Others have also reported seeing sexual, age-inappropriate, racist or self-harm/eating-disorder content.
Yet, of parents who report that their child has been exposed to inappropriate content, more than 80 per cent are more likely to care about enforcing the ban.
“Other countries have been studying Australia’s progress with the ban and have considered emulating it, and this data has good takeaways for them to refine their strategy. Ultimately, policy alone cannot determine success; it requires parental motivation and ability to effectively restrict harmful social media use,” Filz said.
