As the UK moves towards its under-16s social media ban it must learn from the shortfalls of the system already implemented in Australia, according to an age verification expert.
A recent study published by the BMJ found that as many as 85% of under-16s are still using social media in Australia since its own ban came into force last December.
The BMJ’s research found that both the amount of under-16s on social media in Australia and the amount of time they spent using it was broadly unchanged.
Daily social media use among 12-13 year-olds was the same as before the ban, while there was a slight reduction for 14-15 year olds.
According to the research, a significant part of the issue is that social media platforms have not implemented effective enough methods to prevent children from accessing them.
Methods of circumvention include creating new profiles with fake ages, using other people’s accounts and in many cases, young people have been using their old accounts without being asked to verify their age.
Interestingly, however, the research did not find a noticeable spike in the use of VPNs to get around national policy.
The UK’s under-16s social media ban will come into force in spring 2027, giving the government and the regulator Ofcom plenty of time to learn from the shortfalls of Australia’s process.
UK ministers have had strong words for digital platforms regarding age assurance measures, which have already been implemented for pornographic sites.
“Liz Kendall is right that age assurance should be at the frontline when it comes to implementing the UK social media ban, but the devil will be in the detail,” said Andy Lulham, chief operating officer at the online safety company Verifymy.
“If they want to truly deliver ‘Australia-plus’, the Government must learn from the lessons there, and provide unambiguous guidance to platforms that makes it clear what they must do and the consequences of inaction.
“With this in place, highly effective age assurance has the ability to prevent the vast majority of under-16s from using the platforms.”
Since Australia’s under-16s social media ban came into effect, its government has not yet issued any fines to social media providers for ineffective age assurance.
The UK has shown it is willing to issue age assurance-based fines in recent cases concerning the Online Safety Act, so it is possible that its version of the ban may see a more punitive approach.
Read more: Lessons from Australia ahead of a potential UK under-16s social media ban
