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Australia has introduced a groundbreaking policy aimed at restricting social media access for individuals under 16, but this move seems to have sparked a wave of defiance among teenagers, with many parents even assisting their children in circumventing the restrictions.
In an unprecedented step on the global stage, the Australian federal government has initiated a ban preventing those under 16 from creating or using accounts on popular platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.
The rationale behind this sweeping restriction is the government’s concern over the potential exposure of minors to harmful content, cyberbullying, and the risk of them being targeted by online predators.
Despite these protective intentions, the rollout of the ban has encountered immediate resistance. Within mere hours of the restrictions taking effect, numerous teenagers managed to remain active on these platforms. Some even boasted about how quickly they bypassed the measures put in place to block their access.
“It’s 7 a.m., I’m still online, who else made it?” one teenager posted, prompting a swift wave of responses from peers who proudly shared that they, too, had maintained full access to their accounts.
And now, on the same platforms they are supposed to be banned from, young Aussies are sharing simple step-by-step hacks to bypass age screening.
‘I just sucked my cheeks in like this,’ said one girl in a TikTok video referring to the facial recognition security feature that’s been popping up when teens try to log in.
‘I don’t know how, but it worked for me,’ she added.
One teen said she just made a new account (left) while another (right) is going viral showing how she sucked her face in to bypass the security measures
Users reported simply pressing OK kept them online
Her comment section was full of grateful replies from others who said they had tried the simple hack and it had worked for them too.
‘I used my Pop’s face,’ said another.
‘Yeah just use your parents,’ added someone else.
Another user offered more tips on the facial recognition issue saying that high quality non-digital photos ‘trick’ the software. ‘I used a CD case cover of The Great Escape,’ he said.
In other viral videos picking up pace, teens are recommending installing a VPN to make it look like they are in New Zealand.
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, works by routing internet traffic through a remote server which encrypts data, masks the real IP address and makes it appear as though the user is browsing from a different location.
Some parents said the rollout had left their children distraught, as friends managed to bypass the rules but the same tricks did not work for them.
Other parents were furious with the ban and vowed to help their kids stay connected.
Platforms that don’t take action in removing under-16s from their platforms face fines of almost $50million
Viral videos are popping up on TikTok with dozens of comments from young Australians
Many teens were still online this morning
Some mocked how easy it was to stay connected
Others were asking if their friends made it through
‘I have kids of my own, I will be actively manipulating their accounts,’ said one mum.
‘They are looking for the way kids message, speak, word spelling, use emojis and share content and memes.
‘Then AI will determine if it’s child-like behaviour and look at the age group of their friends and mutual friends and group chats.
‘They will also look at the times the account is logged into, if there is more traffic before and after school times.
‘So I’ll just jump on my kids’ accounts and share a bunch of stuff, add my trusted friends and add them to my type of groups.
‘These are my kids, only I decide if they aren’t allowed social media.’
But while many underage users continued scrolling as normal, Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese threw a BBQ to celebrate the ban.
‘From the beginning, we’ve acknowledged this process won’t be 100 per cent perfect,’ he said, defending the issues in an opinion piece on Sunday.
Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, threw a BBQ to celebrate the milestone
Some parents were furious with the ban
One teen said they simply changed their birthdate in the settings
‘Australia sets the legal drinking age at 18 because our society recognises the benefits to the individual and the community of such an approach.
‘The fact that teenagers occasionally find a way to have a drink doesn’t diminish the value of having a clear national standard.’
And it seems not everyone has managed to find a way around the ban, with early reports suggesting that around half a million accounts on Meta’s platforms Facebook and Instagram vanished in Australia.
But it is not just Meta, with an estimated 440,000 Snapchat accounts gone, as are 200,000 Australian accounts from TikTok.