Australian teens access social media via VPNs despite age ban

Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety commissioner, said teenagers are bypassing the country’s social media age restrictions using virtual private networks (VPNs) and tricking age verification services, three months after the law shuttered about 5 million accounts for people under age 16.

The law, which came into effect in December, restricts access to platforms including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram and Facebook, Snap Inc.’s Snapchat, Elon Musk’s X, ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, and Google’s YouTube, while excluding messaging and gaming apps.

Inman Grant said Australia is now in a difficult second phase and that the burden is on platforms to make sure young users can’t sneak onto their services.

At least 14 countries are considering similar restrictions, the lead researcher analyzing the impact of Australia’s ban said, and opponents warn VPNs and unregulated platforms could undermine enforcement.

Policymakers are also weighing privacy risks as methods such as facial recognition or government ID scans have been used for age verification for adult websites in countries including Australia and the UK.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Vague rules are turning the ban into a chaotic game of cat and mouse

The law tells services to take “reasonable steps” to verify age, yet it does not name specific tools or methods 1.
The result is a patchwork that is easy to dodge. Meta used selfie-based facial age estimation, while other apps leaned on existing account details or self-declared birthdates 2.
Some teens reportedly fooled facial recognition with simple moves such as makeup that looks like facial hair 2.
Teens are also shifting to other apps beyond virtual private networks (VPNs), and downloads for fringe platforms such as Yope and Lemon8 rose by as much as 251 percent 2.

Australia’s experiment is pushing a global choice between privacy and protection

Governments worldwide are tracking Australia’s ban. Similar age-assurance regimes are spreading in the UK and across U.S. states, while countries such as Brazil are moving the same way 3.
This spread can push companies to gather more sensitive data such as government IDs or biometric scans, which can weaken online anonymity and create fresh targets for hackers 4.
A breach at one of Discord’s third-party verification services leaked ID images for about 70,000 users 3.
Large tech firms including Meta and Snap want verification handled at the app store or device level to set consistent standards and reduce a “whack-a-mole effect” when teens move to new apps 5 3.