---
title: "Regulators say Australian teenagers are circumventing bans to sneak onto social media"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/278768248.md"
description: "Three months after the implementation of social media restrictions for teenagers under 16 in Australia, regulators say that teenagers are using VPNs and age verification bypass services to circumvent the restrictions. Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant stated that platforms have a responsibility to ensure that young users cannot secretly use their services. The restrictions affect services such as Instagram and Facebook under Meta, Snap, X, TikTok, and YouTube, with approximately 5 million accounts closed after the law took effect"
datetime: "2026-03-11T18:43:02.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/278768248.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/278768248.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/278768248.md)
---

# Regulators say Australian teenagers are circumventing bans to sneak onto social media

Three months after the social media restrictions for teenagers under 16 took effect in Australia, digital regulators in the country have stated that teenagers are using virtual private networks and deceptive age verification services to bypass these restrictions.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant stated that the country is currently in the "difficult" second phase of the ban, and platforms have a responsibility to ensure that young users cannot secretly use their services.

The restrictions in Australia affect several services, including Instagram and Facebook under Meta (META.US), Snap (SNAP.US), X owned by Musk, TikTok, and YouTube. After the law took effect in December last year, approximately 5 million accounts were closed

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