Which apps are included in Australia's social media ban?
Australian children under the age of 16 will be banned from 10 social media apps from December 10. (Supplied: Unsplash)
Ten platforms will be included in Australia's world-first social media ban for children under 16 in December, however, the regulator has warned that the list is not "static" and could grow.
In November, the eSafety Commission put Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and others on notice that they will be an "age-restricted platform" required to comply with the new laws from December 10.
Streaming platform Twitch was later added to the list, less than three weeks out from the ban starting.
The platforms could face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to take reasonable steps to block young users from this date.
Here's a list of the platforms included in the ban and others that are currently exempt.
Banned: TikTok
TikTok is used to create, share and discover short videos, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance.
There are almost 10 million users in Australia with about 200,000 of those aged 13 to 15, according to the eSafety Commission.
While TikTok has its own minimum age of 13, the regulator has found it's one of the most popular platforms for users aged between eight and 12.
The platform's Australia policy lead, Ella Woods-Joyce, says TikTok will comply with the ban, but has warned it could have unintended consequences.
"Experts believe a ban will push younger people into darker corners of the internet where protections don't exist," Ms Woods-Joyce said.
Banned: Instagram
Instagram is the most used app among Australian teenagers aged 13 to 17, with more than a million monthly active users in this age cohort, according to the eSafety Commission.
The platform is owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Messenger.
Instagram says its "teen accounts" are automatically applied to users aged 13 to 17, which come with built-in limits on who can contact them and filters on "sensitive content".
Users in this age cohort also get notifications prompting them to leave the app after 60 minutes of use in one day.
Despite these measures, Instagram will fall under Australia's social media ban for under-16s from next month.
Banned: Snapchat
Snapchat is also among the most popular apps for young people, with more than a million of its 8.3 million Australian users aged 17 or under.
Snapchat is a messaging app that allows users to send images, videos and texts that are only available for a short period once they're opened.
Users can also choose to share their location with friends on Snap Map.
Snapchat is looking to allow underage users to download and archive their data before their accounts are disabled.
Banned: YouTube
YouTube is one of the most popular online platforms for young Australians, with more than 643,000 users aged 17 and under.
The regulator found it was the top platform for users aged between eight and 12, with more than two-thirds of those surveyed picking it as their platform of choice.
The Australian government was planning to exempt YouTube from its social media ban, but later backflipped on this decision.
Rachel Lord from YouTube Australia and New Zealand says there's substantial evidence that YouTube is widely used in classrooms and supported by parents.
"YouTube is not a social media platform; it is a video streaming platform with a library of free, high-quality content, and TV screens are increasingly the most popular place to watch," she said.
YouTube Kids, a filtered version of the platform that allows parents to create accounts for children under 12, will still be allowed.
Banned: Facebook
While Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube dominate for young social media users, Facebook still has an estimated 455,000 Australian users aged between 13 and 17.
The platform is owned by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and already has a minimum age of 13.
Meta policy director Mia Garlick recently told a Senate hearing that the company would comply with the ban but was still solving "numerous challenges" to identify teenagers' accounts.
Facebook's private messaging service Messenger will still be allowed.
Banned: Twitch
Streaming platform Twitch was added to the list of banned apps after the eSafety Commission found it has the sole or significant purpose of online social interaction.
"Twitch is a platform most commonly used for live streaming or posting content that enables users, including Australian children, to interact with others in relation to the content posted," a statement posted to the eSafety website said.
Twitch is mainly used by gaming and eSport players to broadcast their gameplay with audio commentary, but it's also used to share and broadcast music, live sports, and food programs, according to the regulator.
Banned: X
Formerly known as Twitter and owned by billionaire Elon Musk, X will fall under the list of banned platforms for under-16s.
While it's not among the most popular apps for young users, the eSafety Commission has concerns about the prevalence of "online hate" on the platform.
In June 2023, the regulator said it had received more complaints about online hate on X in the past 12 months than any other platform, saying X had "dropped the ball on tackling hate".
Banned: Reddit
Messaging board Reddit has just been added to the list of platforms that will face age restrictions from next month.
The platform bans mature content until a user declares they are 18 or over, however, there is no age verification system in place, according to the eSafety Commission.
Reddit is the seventh-most visited site in the world.
Banned: Kick
Along with Reddit, Kick is a new addition to the government's list of age-restricted platforms.
Kick is an Australian competitor to video live streaming platform Twitch, where users can watch live video steams covering games, music and gambling.
The eSafety Commission recently suggested Twitch, along with gaming site Roblox, could also soon fall under the ban.
Banned: Threads
Threads is a microblogging platform similar to X, which requires users to have an Instagram account for access.
As Instagram will be banned for under 16s, Threads also falls under the list of banned platforms.
To avoid Australia's new age limit laws, a platform must fall under one of the exempt classes.
These include messaging, email, voice or video calling, online games, health, education, professional development or services that enable information about products or services.
The commission has informed several platforms that they don't currently meet the criteria to fall under the ban.
The platforms that will still be allowed to host under-16s include:
- Messenger
- YouTube Kids
- Discord
- GitHub
- LEGO Play
- Roblox
- Steam and Steam Chat
- Google Classroom
However, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the agency was in contact with platforms that did not currently meet the criteria but could see an influx of young users trying to circumvent the ban, such as Yubo and Bluesky.
"This is a dynamic list and will always change … some of the companies, when we made this assessment, I will say were very much on the line,"she said.
"We will continue to take a whole-of-ecosystem approach, but we want to reinforce that just because a service is excluded, it does not mean it is absolutely safe.
"As parents, we will need to continue being engaged in our children’s online lives."
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