Eight months after Australia banned under-16s from social media, teen usage of TikTok has nearly returned to pre-ban levels. A report from parental control firm Qustodio found that 26% of children aged 13 to 15 were on TikTok in July, just one percentage point below the rate before the ban. [6, 7] For younger children, aged 10 to 12, usage is now even higher than before the restrictions were implemented. [6, 7, 8]
The data suggests that young users are successfully circumventing the rules by providing false ages or using virtual private networks (VPNs). [8] The findings raise significant questions about the effectiveness of Australia's world-first age-based social media ban, which is being closely watched by other countries considering similar legislation. [6] Usage of Snap's Snapchat and Meta's Instagram is also reportedly recovering after an initial decline. [8]