A shot at the hours of darkness? In any case, there was no “important” abandonment of social networks within the weeks that adopted their ban for teenagers in Australiain accordance with authorities paperwork obtained by AFP, Thursday April 30, 2026.
L’Australia turned, in December 2025, the primary nation to ban social networks for these underneath 16 to guard them from feared dangerous results on their mental health. It was then imitated by Indonesia, whereasin France, Parliament is currently examining a project getting in the identical path.
Again to sq. one?
Australian authorities paperwork obtained by AFP underneath freedom of knowledge legal guidelines, nonetheless, present that platforms comparable toInstagram et TikTok “nonetheless dominated rankings and downloads in app shops” a month after the ban took impact.
Whereas some customers examined different functions not affected by the ban, they “largely returned to main and established platforms,” officers wrote on this report dated February 2, 2026.
The scourge of cyberbullying
One other doc, nonetheless, factors out that it’s troublesome to attract definitive conclusions from knowledge on app downloads so quickly after the ban: “This knowledge has the limitation of not reflecting using an utility or the age of the consumer, it says, however it does present early indicators to find out whether or not an utility is gaining reputation.”
One of many foremost motivations for this ban is the will to combat in opposition to cyberbullying. Complaints truly elevated by 26% between January 2025 and January 2026, in accordance with the paperwork. They primarily got here from TikTok.
A measure that conjures up
“Continued evaluation, as extra knowledge turns into obtainable, will permit extra strong and evidence-based conclusions to be drawn relating to long-term traits (…) and impacts (of a minimal age for social networks),” mentioned the commission eSafety in a press launch. TikTok didn’t instantly reply to requests from AFP.
Many nations are at present contemplating taking related measures in opposition to social networks. The paperwork reveal thatIsraelthe United Kingdomthe Norway and the New Zealand met with Australian officers after expressing “curiosity” within the ban.
5 million accounts deleted
On the finish of March 2026, the Australian regulator threatened sanctions focusing on tech giants together with TikTok, Instagram and YouTubeaccused of violating the ban.
Three months after the legislation got here into pressure, Australia’s on-line security company reported that greater than 5 million accounts belonging to underage Australian customers had been deleted.
However the eSafety Fee additionally mentioned it discovered {that a} “important proportion of Australian kids” had been nonetheless consulting banned platforms, elevating “main considerations” about FacebookInstagram, SnapchatTikTok and YouTube.
