Australia Prepares Ad Campaign Ahead of Teen Social Media Restrictions

Australia is taking steps to enforce a new legal framework aimed at preventing children under 16 from holding social media accounts, and the country’s internet-safety regulator has begun rolling out public-information campaigns ahead of the new rules. Effective 10 December 2025, platforms classified under the legislation will be required to take “reasonable steps” to stop under-16s from creating or maintaining accounts – with non-compliance potentially incurring fines of up to A$49.5 million.

Under the new regulation introduced via the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, a range of platforms is likely to be subject to the rules – including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. While children under 16 will still be able to view public content without logging in, account creation and full participation across these platforms will be restricted.

Australia’s regulator, eSafety Commissioner, has emphasised that platforms will not necessarily be required to implement universal identity verification processes. Instead, companies must demonstrate that they have taken “reasonable steps” to detect and remove or deactivate under-16 accounts. In practice, this means platforms may rely on age-inference tools, behavioral signals or user self-declarations rather than mandatory ID checks at scale.

To help prepare for the transition, eSafety has launched a public outreach campaign that includes messaging across social media, TV and radio. The campaign is designed to assist parents, carers and young people in understanding what the changes mean and how to manage existing accounts. When these restrictions go into full effect, a number of apps may end up seeing a loss of user activity from Australia overall, which could dramatically change the amount of time and money being invested into Australia-focused advertising or marketing campaigns across the board if the drop in engagement is high enough.