Australia Leads: World-First Social Media Law to Protect Kids

Following up on our recent post “Australia Says No to Social Media for Under-16”, the conversation has intensified after Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells reaffirmed the government’s stance on 3 December 2025 in a powerful statement.

She emphasised that this world-first law is about safeguarding children’s wellbeing and prioritising families over tech giants. Wells added:

“As whistleblower Sarah Williams said in her testimony before the US Senate “social media platforms target teenagers with ads based on their emotional state” (…) if a teenage girl uploaded a selfie and then deleted it advertisers would see that as a good time to sell her a beauty product or a weight loss product because the act of deleting that selfie indicated she may not be feeling great about her appearance”. That is predatory behaviour. And we must act”.

Compliance will be essential: effective from 10 December 2025, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X will be prohibited from allowing under-16s to create or maintain accounts, with fines up to $50 million for breaches.

This landmark move positions Australia as a global leader in online safety, with the EU adopting a similar framework as we have informed in our recent post “Children should be at least 16 to access social media”: European Parliament”.

#AustraliaOnlineSafety #SocialMediaBan #Under16 #OnlineSafetyAct #ProtectOurKids #RuneLexAIRegulationExperts

Image by Vecteezy