Australian teenagers are easily bybassing the new age restrictions easily to access social media media.
According to BBC, new research by the Australian internet regulator, eSafety, revealed that more than 80% of the children aged between eight and twelve are using social media or messaging apps regularly even after the total social media ban for under-16s.
The most popular platforms used by the children during the survey were YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.
The report further found that 95% of the teens under 16 used at least one of the eight apps included in the survey.
Notably, after the new restrictions, all of the social media apps except Reddit require a date of birth at its sign-up stage, which children can easily bypass as it all relies on self-declaration.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant noted, “There is still significant work to be done by any social media platforms relying on truthful self-declaration to determine age with enforcement of the government's minimum age legislation on the horizon.”
Furthermore, YouTube was the only app that kids under 13 were allowed to use even after the ban, but only through a family account with parental supervision. The report revealed that none of the 8-12-year-olds' accounts reported shutdown because of the age restriction.
