Yasmin London reports that Australian children are still using TikTok despite a national under-16 social media ban.
Yasmin London, a global online safety expert at Qustodio, reports that 26% of Australian children aged 13 to 15 are still using TikTok eight months after the national under-16 social media ban took effect. Data from Qustodio shows that usage fell sharply at first but has steadily climbed back, suggesting that children are working around the law through misstated ages and VPNs. Notably, usage among children aged 10 to 12 is now higher than before the ban, despite being the primary group the law intended to protect. Because the ban is defined by platform category rather than behavior, displaced activity has moved to exempt apps like WhatsApp. The Australian government acknowledged inadequate compliance and announced it would double maximum penalties to A$99mn to strengthen enforcement. While the results are not yet definitive, the data provides as evidence for other nations like New Zealand and Norway that are currently developing their own age-based social media restrictions.