According to Reuters, 80% of Australian children aged 8 to 12 will have used social media in 2024. The most popular platforms are YouTube, ByteDance TikTok, Meta's Instagram, and Snapchat.
Although most of these platforms do not allow people under 13 to register, they rely primarily on users declaring their own date of birth without other age verification tools.
YouTube is the only platform that allows children under 13 to use it when they have a family account under the supervision of a parent. However, the report shows that there were no cases of 8-12 year Older children whose accounts were locked due to age violations. 95% of adolescents under 16 have used at least one of the eight surveyed platforms.
Although TikTok, Twitch, Snapchat and YouTube have deployed under-13 user detection tools, some other platforms have not done so even though the technology is already available. TikTok representative said that since the beginning of 2023, the platform has deleted more than 1 million accounts suspected of belonging to children under 13 in Australia through age detection tools.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said that the responsibility for implementing the age limit should belong to app stores rather than social media platforms. Reddit declined to comment, while Twitch, Snapchat and YouTube have not responded to the issue.
The report also highlights that most platforms have conducted research to improve their age verification systems, while providing methods for users to report cases under 13. However, eSafety Committee July Inman Grant affirmed that there is still much work to be done to ensure compliance with the new law.
