Overview
- Australia implemented a nationwide restriction late last year that prohibits under‑16s from holding accounts on major platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
- The law places enforcement on companies through fines for violations, not on children who access the services.
- Supporters, writing in The Atlantic, argue analogies to alcohol and tobacco age limits suggest delayed exposure can yield population-level benefits even with imperfect compliance.
- A Forbes critique contends most evidence tying social media to poor mental health is correlational, not causal, and warns that restrictions are readily bypassed via borrowed devices, shared logins or browser access.
- Opponents also say blanket bans postpone digital‑judgment learning and may drive use into less visible, less supervised spaces.