Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Australia Launches 'For The Good Of' Campaign Ahead of Under-16 Social Media Ban

Regulators are setting expectations for major platforms with fines looming for failures.

Overview

  • An A$14 million national awareness campaign begins Sunday to prepare families for the Dec. 10 prohibition on social media accounts for under‑16s.
  • Communications Minister Anika Wells met Meta, Snapchat and TikTok and will meet YouTube this week, with X scheduled for November, and she signalled no exemptions.
  • YouTube told a parliamentary hearing the regime will be extremely difficult to enforce and may not make kids safer, argued it is not social media, and did not rule out legal options.
  • eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said day‑one priorities include removing existing underage accounts and setting up appeals, with anti‑circumvention measures phased in.
  • The OAIC issued privacy guidance requiring age‑assurance methods to be necessary and proportionate, as platforms face penalties of up to roughly A$50 million for systemic non‑compliance.