4.7 million accounts gone, the social media age restriction and what it means for audience strategy
The under-16 social media ban is live. 4.7 million accounts removed. Audience sizes on major platforms have structurally shrunk in Australia.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 took effect on 10 December 2025. Ten platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, X, Threads, Twitch, Kick, YouTube) must take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts. By mid-January 2026, more than 4.7 million accounts had been deactivated, removed, or restricted.
Self-declaration of age is not sufficient. The eSafety Commissioner requires a “successive validation” or “waterfall” approach to age verification.
The audience contraction is real
This is not hypothetical. Millions of accounts have been removed from major platforms in Australia. For any brand whose targeting segments included 13 to 15-year-olds, those audiences are no longer reachable on these platforms. For brands that were unknowingly reaching minors through broad targeting, the compliance exposure has been reduced, and the audience data has also been disrupted.
Phase 2 Online Safety Codes add further obligations
Nine industry codes covering Class 1C and Class 2 material were registered in 2025, with compliance dates of 27 December 2025 and 9 March 2026. These impose obligations on social media platforms, search engines, online games, and app distributors. Mandatory age checks are required for high-risk services, including generative AI services capable of producing explicit or harmful material.
Maximum civil penalty for non-compliance: AUD 9.9 million.
What this means for channel strategy
The implications are sector-specific, the principle is universal: audience sizes on major social platforms have structurally shrunk in Australia, and age verification requirements are introducing friction into user journeys, affecting conversion rates and measurement.
For marketers in entertainment, education, gaming, and fashion, the channel mix needs reassessment. Platforms that were previously efficient for reaching younger demographics may no longer deliver the same reach or cost efficiency. The discovery surfaces have shifted, and IMO most planning models still have not been updated to reflect that.
For any organisation using generative AI in marketing, the Phase 2 codes bring that activity within regulatory scope. Content generation that could produce harmful material is now a compliance issue, not just a brand safety one.