Australia has since set the tone for nations banning social media for underage teens, and it's looking like the United Kingdom and France are following suit. After Australia gained attention as the world's first nation to ban teens under 16 from social media, the entire world paid attention, and some governments considered doing it, including the UK.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 mandates that social media platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube implement age verification to prevent children under 16 from creating accounts. Social media platforms that fail to comply with age verification requirements could face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (£24.7 million).
