Australia sets new social media age limitCEFR A2
15 Dec 2025
Adapted from Kevin Rennie, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Steven Wei, Unsplash
On 10 December 2025 Australia introduced a law about social media. The law says platforms must take reasonable steps to stop people under 16 having accounts. It applies to both existing and new accounts.
The government named major services such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok as covered by the rule. Some other apps were not included and a few smaller services were asked to check themselves.
Experts and young people reacted. Practical problems include checks like ID and facial scans, and ways to try to bypass limits such as VPNs.
Difficult words
- introduce — to make a new law or rule startintroduced
- platform — online service where people share and connectplatforms
- reasonable — fair and careful, not extreme or dangerous
- apply — to be true for or affect somethingapplies
- account — a personal profile or page on a serviceaccounts
- bypass — to avoid a rule or limit by another way
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Do you think 16 is a good age limit for social media? Why?
- How might young people try to get around this rule where you live?
- What checks would be easy or hard for a platform to do?
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