|  | A distorted Communications Minister Anika Wells |
| The first look into whether Australia's teen social media ban is working has been pushed back as the government contends with the aftermath of the Bondi shooting. | It’s been two weeks since the deadline for social media platforms to limit accounts to people over the age of sixteen. Search traffic data shows that an enormous burst of interest in the ban quickly faded, even before tragedy struck Bondi later that week. | On the day after the ban came into effect, December 11, Communications Minister Anika Wells said that the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant would contact the 10 social media platforms listed as being in the ban to ask about their initial efforts to enforce the ban. | “She will ask them, as you've heard me say, 'what were your numbers that are under 16 accounts on the 9th of December? What are your numbers today on the 11th of December? She'll then ask every month for an update on those numbers and she will be giving you an update on that before Christmas,” Wells said. | The Sizzle is an independent Australian tech publication. Sign up for a free two-week trial of its daily tech newsletter. | | While these requests for information have been sent out to platforms, the government’s first report about the number of account deactivations has been pushed back as it focused on the handling of the Bondi beach terrorist attack. | A spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells confirmed that the government would not release initial numbers — which are expected to be in excess of a million accounts across Meta, Snap and TikTok’s platforms — by its initial deadline. | Media coverage on the day of ban deadline prominently featured issues with implementing the ban, as reports suggested that teens were widely able to circumvent measures to check their ages on major platforms and the popularity of alternative, non-compliant apps spiked. | But after zooming up the charts, the popularity of alternative apps like Yope, Coverstar and Lemon8 has cratered in the days after. VPNs, which saw a small uptick in popularity, have also gone back to normal. | Anecdotally, teens remain present on public-facing social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, using them to gloat about getting around the ban and even reportedly planning a riot. | Meanwhile, there have been only a few reports that adults have been unable to prove their ages and access their accounts. This is a quiet success for both the social media platforms and government, given that tens of millions of people have had their ages checked. | Even official reporting of account deactivations would only give part of the picture about the success of enforcing the ban (without knowing the unknowable number of how many accounts belong to people pretending not to be under 16). | Another way of measuring success will be the research overseen by the eSafety office. This will include reviewing pre- and post-ban data tracking teen social media use, sleep, NAPLAN scores, even phone bills, according to Inman Grant. Early data from this is expected in the first part of next year. | Meanwhile, Reddit’s High Court filing has passed an initial hurdle and will proceed .Last week, a judge ruled that the tech platform’s case should be heard “in tandem” with the previously filed challenge from the Libertarian Party-led Digital Freedom Project in April. | Having passed the first significant hurdle of implementation, Australia has proven that a ban can be done. 2026 will be the first test for whether it’s a success. |
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