A 2025 study commissioned found that 96% of children aged 10–15 used social media, and seven out of ten had encountered harmful content. This included misogynistic and violent material, as well as content encouraging eating disorders or suicide.

Additionally, one in seven reported experiencing grooming-like behaviour from adults or older children, and more than half said they had been victims of cyberbullying.

The laws were introduced to protect young people from the risks and pressures associated with social media, including:

• excessive screen time;
• exposure to negative, distressing, or manipulative content; and
• harmful behaviours, such as cyberbullying, as well as access to harmful material like pornography.

Supporters of the ban in Australia cited concerns about social media platforms and algorithms influencing and manipulating young people, as well as the risks of exposure to bullying, extremist content, and misinformation. Opponents, on the other hand, raised issues about government overreach in what they saw as a parental responsibility, potential censorship, the effectiveness of the ban, and the possibility of limiting young people’s access to the benefits of online social interaction and information.

Social media companies can be fined up to A$49.5 million (US$32 million, £25 million) for serious or repeated violations.

The government states that firms must take “reasonable steps” to prevent children from accessing their platforms and should employ multiple age-verification methods.

These methods may include government-issued IDs, facial or voice recognition, or “age inference,” which estimates a user’s age by analysing their online behaviour and interactions.

Platforms are not allowed to rely solely on users’ self-reporting their age or on parents vouching for their children.

The UK government has launched a consultation on banning social media for under-16s as part of a set of measures aimed at “protecting young people’s wellbeing.”

The plan also gives England’s education inspectorate, Ofsted, the authority to review schools’ phone-use policies, with ministers stating that they expect schools to be “phone-free by default” as a result.- BBC.co.uk

Some argue against the ban, saying it could limit children’s access to the wider world, particularly those who struggle to communicate in “real-world social interactions” and find their community.

However, others argue that children shouldn’t be bombarded by algorithms devised to create money for tech companies.

“We are determined to ensure technology enriches children’s lives, not harms them – and to give every child the childhood they deserve,” – Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. 

Professor Amy Orben, who leads the Digital Mental Health programme at the University of Cambridge’s MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, said there was no strong evidence that age-based social media bans were effective.

Regardless, there are some tips to keep safe online:

1. Beware of online scams.
2. Be careful of Phishing.
3. Don’t trust AI and question the information it gives you.
4. Don’t trust that people are who they say they are when engaging online.

For your own health and well-being, be careful of your and others’ screen time.