<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Later this month, Australia will implement a world-first ban on social media for children, barring anyone aged under 16 from accessing certain websites and apps.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, questions have been raised about how the ban will actually be enforced, and the government itself has admitted it won't be perfect in keeping underage users off the blocked sites.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This is what we know about how the ban will work.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>FULL LIST: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/social-media-ban-australia-full-list-of-sites-apps-banned/6291cce0-b2af-4d0d-a785-2b7a35859f43" rel="" target="" title="All the sites about to be banned for under-16s"><strong><span>All the sites about to be banned for under-16s</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Who is responsible for keeping children off social media?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Responsibility for enforcing the ban, which comes into effect on December 10, has been placed on social media companies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If children aged under 16 do find their way onto one of the banned sites, they and their parents won't face any penalties.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/social-media-ban-australia-how-it-will-be-enforced-explained/ec113782-085b-4510-b3b6-1b264e0f587e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Instead, the federal government's eSafety agency can take action against tech companies that aren't taking "reasonable steps" to keep underage users off their platforms.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/social-media-ban-full-list-of-sites-apps-exemptions-australia/fc75d5a7-2cc7-43a6-b7ee-074a47829ae5"><strong><span>Even platforms exempt from the social media ban aren't safe</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>What are those 'reasonable steps'?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>eSafety hasn't specified exactly what social media companies need to do to avoid falling foul of the new laws.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is no one-size fits all approach for what constitutes the taking of reasonable steps," its regulatory guidance states.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a nutshell, though, from December 10, providers need to deactivate or remove the accounts of users aged under 16, and stop those children from being able to immediately create new profiles to get around the ban.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This includes using geolocation data to check whether a user is an Australian resident, and verify that account holders are 16 or older.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While social media platforms can confirm ages by checking someone's government-issued ID, they're required to offer at least one alternative so users aren't forced to hand over their driver's licence or passport.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/social-media-ban-noah-jones-high-court-challenge/5c7ef214-ec74-4fd6-97ce-cb0fc88fa333"><strong><span>Noah learnt about the social media ban on social media. Now, he's fighting it in court</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Companies have already begun rolling out age assurance technology, which can estimate and infer someone's age. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The exact methods vary, but range from getting users to take a video selfie to analysing account behaviour and other metadata.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The government has acknowledged the ban won't be perfect and some children will get around it, but says it will have an overall positive impact.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Just because there are under 18s who will drink alcohol today doesn't mean that it's not a good, important law that we have that you cannot drink under 18," Communications Minister Anika Wells said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is about creating cultural change, and yeah, there's recalcitrance… we are creating a rule that everybody's off (social media), and the people that get around it, they will be the outliers."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tiktok-instagram-alternatives-booming-as-australian-kids-switch-before-social-media-ban/a2950b1d-898e-467f-a9e4-744f1807a3ec"><strong><span>The little-known apps kids are switching to ahead of ban</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There's also a range of requirements for companies around the data they collect, making sure they don't discriminate against diverse groups, and that users have an avenue to appeal decisions made against them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-09/eSafety-SMMA-Regulatory-Guidance.pdf?v=1764641070005"><span>full eSafety guidance can be found here</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>What happens if social media companies don't enforce the ban?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If a social media company breaks the age restriction laws, including by failing to take reasonable steps to keep underage children off its platforms, it will face a fine of up to $49.5 million.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>eSafety can also take the offending company to court to seek injunctions or undertakings from it in response to any breach.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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