One-fifth of Australian teenagers under 16 were still using social media two months after the country banned platforms from allowing minors, industry data showed, raising questions about the effectiveness of age-gating methods being used.
The number of those aged 13 to 15 using TikTok and Snapchat, among the most popular social media apps with Australian teenagers, fell from before the ban took effect in December to February, but more than 20 per cent still used the apps, according to a report by parental control software maker Qustodio.
The data is among the first to show the effects on youth online behaviour since Australia rolled out the ban, which is being copied by governments worldwide.
The Australian government and at least two university studies are tracking the ban\u2019s impact, but none have published data so far.
\u201cAmong children whose parents haven\u2019t blocked access, a meaningful number continue to use restricted platforms in the months following the ban,\u201d Qustodio said in the report, which was based on data collected from Australian families from late 2024 to February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One-fifth of Australian teenagers under 16 were still using social media two months after the country banned platforms from allowing minors, industry data showed, raising questions about the effectiveness of age-gating methods being used.The number of those aged 13 to 15 using TikTok and Snapchat, among the most popular social media apps with Australian teenagers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n