3 Months After Australia’s Social Media Ban, Study Finds No Clear Reduction in Teen Use

A study in the British Medical Journal found little evidence of ‘immediate substantive reductions’ in social media use among under-16s.

Social media app icons are displayed in this photo illustration on Oct. 18, 2025. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

Three months after Australia’s under-16 social media ban began, more than 85 percent of surveyed teenagers were still using restricted platforms, with researchers finding no clear evidence the law had significantly reduced use.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found no “immediate substantive reductions” in adolescents’ access to platforms affected by the restrictions.