Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16 on December 10, 2024-blocking access to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
Since then, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam have advanced similar proposals or regulatory reviews. Brazil and multiple US states are also studying emulation.
Meta, TikTok, and Snap tout safety features-teen accounts, family pairing, default privacy settings-but regulators say these fall short of systemic accountability.
Experts stress the shift is political and structural: governments no longer trust platforms to self-regulate after years of inadequate action on grooming, bullying, and data exploitation.
Unintended consequences-VPN use, migration to unregulated apps, enforcement gaps-are acknowledged but deemed secondary to the demand for enforceable standards.
Regulators now seek independently auditable age assurance, privacy-preserving enforcement, and real-time intervention-not just product tweaks. The era of voluntary safeguards is over.