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Age verification errors see some under-16s retain access to banned social media platforms
It’s day one of the social media ban and, unsurprisingly, it hasn’t been a smooth launch.
Many children have already been able to get around the ban in various ways, with age assurance systems misclassifying users and workarounds such as VPNs and make-up tricks being used.
The government admitted the ban would not be perfect or instantaneous, but said the loopholes that allowed teens to circumvent the ban would not stay open forever.
“My son opened TikTok this morning and received this message: ‘The social media ban has come into effect. Your age is estimated to be 18 years old.’ He is 11.” — David, Vic
“My 13-year-old son has passed the age verification face scan by hiding his teeth and scrunching up his face. It guessed his age as 30+. In real life he passes for a 10-year-old.” — Matt, Qld
“My son is almost 16 and has been kicked off Snapchat already on the 9th December but my daughter who is 14 still hasn’t been asked to verify her age on the app. We know multiple children who are 13 who passed the Face ID scan.” — Melissa, WA
“My 13-year-old daughter still has access to all her social media accounts this morning, and she verified her age via facial scanning. I am hoping that they are still working their way through and she will be booted off soon. If not then it’s a fail for us.” — Alison, NSW
“I am under the age of 16 and have not been banned on any platform. Many of my friends in my grade are also under 16 and not one of them has been banned yet.” — Julius, Qld
Dozens of parents have told the ABC their children still have access to social media, despite being younger than 16. (Reuters: Hollie Adams)
Workarounds already in play
Dr Given said under-16s could use virtual private networks (VPNs) and fake IDs to work around the bans.
“They may try to alter their appearance to try to trick facial scanning age estimation,” she said.
“Or they may have a sibling, parent, or another person over 16 do the facial scan for them to get past the age checks.”
One mother reported that her daughter was able to circumvent photo verification by wearing make-up. (Reuters: Hollie Adams)
Some teenagers have even worked out that ageing themselves for photo verifications can circumvent the ban.
“I have a 12-year-old daughter. She and her friends were identified as 17+ simply by putting on some fake lashes and makeup. Even without the [make-up] she was identified as 14+. So either way, these young girls are likely exposed to more inappropriate chats or content than they were before.” — Jillian, NSW
My child has gotten past the ban today. Is that the end of it?
The message we keep hearing from everyone — platforms, government and regulators — is that it’s going to take some time to ban every account.
A TikTok user purportedly below the age of 16 brags that their account was not blocked. (TikTok)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/social-media-ban-day-one-teen-access/106126706