Social media ban: eSafety Commissioner says she will ‘play the long game’ as teens circumvent restriction

Just hours after the under 16s social media ban came into effect Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant declared she’d “play the long game” on compliance as teens bragged about already circumventing the restriction.

While millions of underage accounts across ten platforms were slated to be deactivated on Wednesday, younger users have flooded Anthony Albanese’s own social media profiles to criticise the policy and declare that it “didn’t work”.

The scrutiny came as the Prime Minister hosted a BBQ at Kirribilli House for the launch of the ban, which claimed was “already a success” as it sparked a national conversation about screen time.

The PM addressed advocates of the social media ban and families who had lost loved ones due to online bullying on the lawns, saying it was a “proud day” but admitted the roll out “won’t be perfect”.

The “world-first’ ban launched 15 months after the Federal Government introduced the legislation to protect young people from online harm, reduce addictive use, and support better mental health.

The ban includes Facebook, Threads, Instagram, X, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Tik Tok, YouTube, and Kick.

But Ms Inman Grant warned it was “dynamic” and could be added to if teens migrate to new sites.

Downloads of alternative apps - such as Lemon8, Yope, Coverstar and WhatsApp - have already soared after the ban took effect, as have VPNs.

Ms Inman Grant said eSafety would be monitoring migration patterns and would write to the ten included platforms on Thursday requesting the total number of accounts they deactivated.

Some teens bragging that their accounts weren’t shut down on the first day, described themselves as “survivors” on posts.

“We are going to stay the course. We knew that migration was going to happen. We’ve written to about 15 companies, including Lemon8, Renote and Yope. This is a longer term game,” Ms Inman Grant said.

“Yes, there are going to be kids that fall through the cracks.

“Do I think this is Armageddon? Or the end of the policy? No, I just think this is what happens with technology. I have ... that the companies will improve their game and start stepping up.”

She also flagged there would be a high threshold for platforms to be slapped with fines of up to $49.5 million for not taking reasonable steps to kick kids off their apps and block them from creating accounts.

“Unless we see a really egregious systemic failure, I don’t think that anyone should expect immediate fines. This will be an iterative process,” she said, adding it would also only come “after rigorous investigation”.

Ms Inman Grant said while apps “may have come into this kicking and screaming” it was “now it’s time” for them to act.

All ten included platforms have now formally announced they will comply, however, it took X until the eleventh hour on Tuesday to publicly state their intention.

“As of yesterday, all of the impacted platforms say they will comply with the law,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said.

While online chat forum Reddit announced it would comply, it labelled the ban “legally erroneous” and indicated it will lodge a High Court legal challenge.

Reddit’s lawsuit would mark the second after advocacy group Digital Freedom Project launched a campaign in November, with two 15-year-olds Macy Neyland and Noah Jones listed as the plaintiffs.

Digital Freedom Project’s president and NSW parliamentarian John Ruddick told The Nightly he expected the court could order that the two cases be heard at the same time given they cover similar ground.

Already NSW, SA and WA attorney generals have publicly announced they will throw their support behind the Federal Government’s defence of the ban.

“Reddit has basically launched an identical case to us. These cases will likely be joined and heard at the same time,” Mr Ruddick said.

“We’re thrilled that Reddit has stepped up, but the truth is we haven’t had any contact with them. I don’t suspect we will have contact until they are officially told that we would need to have a joint case.”

While Twitch has announced it would comply, it hasn’t revealed how it will verify age or what options will be given for appeals.

The online gaming site has also disclosed that while new under 16s cannot longer sign up after December 10, it will only start deactivating under 16s accounts from January 9.

“Twitch is committed to being a safe space. As of January 9, any Australian Twitch users under the age of 16 will have their accounts deactivated,” a spokesman said.

Despite Lemon8, which is owned by Tik Tok parent company ByteDance, being so far exempt from the ban, it announced last week it would also kick under 16s off its app.

It comes after gaming platform Roblox revealed last month that it would ask young users to voluntarily undertake age verification and restrict them from key features.

X-like platform BlueSky this week also announced it would implement age assurance technology to deactivate teen accounts.