Most Australian teens still online three months after under-16 ban 

More than eight in 10 Australian teenagers are still using social media, skirting the government’s three-month-old landmark ban on the platforms for under-16s because ‌tech firms have failed to implement effective age checks, the country’s internet regulator has found.

In a study published on Friday, eSafety also found most children aged between 10 and 15 were using social media just as frequently in March as they had before the ban came into force on December 10 last year, while parental awareness of their habits decreased.

“Most under-16s who had social media accounts before commencement were able to either retain them or create new ones at the three-month ⁠mark, with social media platforms’ failure to implement effective age assurance measures cited as the main reason,” eSafety said in a statement.

Australia introduced the world-first ban because of concerns about the effect of social media on the mental and physical health of children and young people. Its implementation is being closely watched by many nations that have since sought to introduce their own curbs.

Before the ban, nearly 86 percent of children surveyed reported using at least one age-restricted platform. Three months later, that figure remained above 81 percent, the report said.

About 58 percent of teenagers reported using social media daily, barely down from roughly 60 percent before the ban, it found.

The report showed minimal change in “sports and physical activity, arts and music, spending time with friends and family, and attendance at community events”.

About half the children who retained their accounts said platforms had not checked their age, the most common reason they were able to stay on the services. Others said their accounts listed them as aged 16 or older or ‌that age-checking ⁠systems had incorrectly determined they were older.

Australia’s government mounted a defence on Saturday of its ban after Andrew Leigh, assistant minister for productivity, competition, charities and treasury, was confronted with the regulator’s findings.

He argued the ban had already reshaped the national debate. The ban has been “an important game changer in the conversation among parents”, Leigh said in televised remarks.

“We’ve had millions of accounts shut down,” he said.

“We never expected that this would have 100 percent compliance. We don’t get 100 percent compliance out of minimum drinking age laws, but it’s still appropriate that we have that law on the books.”