Media Release - Today is the day – the social media ban is here

Melissa McIntosh MP 
Shadow Minister for Communications 
Shadow Minister for Women 
Federal Member for Lindsay

10 December 2025 

Today is the day – the social media ban is here

We all want our kids to be safe from online harms such as cyberbullying, predatory behaviour, and inappropriate material. From today, kids under 16 can no longer have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X or YouTube. This will come as a significant change to young people but is one that many parents across Australia welcome.  

However, the Albanese Government’s lack lustre education campaign and delayed clarity on which platforms are in and out has left many families without the confidence that this change will be successful.

Shadow Minister for Communications, Melissa McIntosh MP said, “The Coalition supports the ban’s intent to keep our children safe, but we have concerns about the Government’s capacity to successfully implement this intent, and the lack of supports in place to help young Australians adjust.

“There has been significant confusion and last minute changes around which platforms are or are not included in the ban.

“We are already seeing kids migrate over to platforms not included in the ban and try to trick the facial scanning apps.

“Young people are clever, far cleverer than I think the Government is giving them credit for.

“The Albanese Labor Government has provided no additional funding for vital youth mental health services to support young people and their parents before, during and after this change commences.

“For many young people, this change will see them disconnected from their peers, friends and family as well as community forums that many of them rely on, particularly in regional and rural areas.

“The Government has also failed to provide funding for any activities for young people to participate in to “learn a new skill”, engage with peers or keep themselves occupied for what is a significant cultural change for them.

“The Prime Minister and the Communications Minister continue to peddle their line that you don’t need to hand over your government ID to these platforms. It simply isn’t true because the platforms have all published this step on their websites if the initial verification fails.”

“Their use of word trickery to avoid being straight with Australians is astounding. If a person, regardless of their age, fails their age verification photo or face scan check, the next and in some cases only option is to provide your Government ID or be excluded from accessing the platform.

“If platforms are asking for people’s personal and sensitive documents such as birth certificates and drivers licences they have a right to know where this data will be stored, for how long and what privacy and security measures are in place to keep their data safe.

“We want our kids to be safe online, but the government’s implementation raises a lot of unanswered questions and uncertainty”.

ENDS