Editorial: Australia’s Social Media Ban for Under 16s
Main Article Content
Keywords
Social media regulation, National Plans, Australian Government, Child protection
Abstract
Australia’s social media ban for minors under 16 years of age has been hailed as a world first and leading edge. Many other countries have shown interest and some have indicated that they will institute similar schemes. In this editorial, we reflect on the scheme after 3½ months of operation, considering the reported responses of social media firms and of users, and what might happen next. As an introduction to the March issue of the Journal, we outline the topics covered.
References
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Parisianne, A. (2026, March 18). Indonesia to ban children under 16 from social media following Australia’s move. SBS Indonesian. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/indonesian/en/podcast-episode/indonesia-to-ban-children-under-16-from-social-media-following-australias-move/eunitcjja
Patiño-Toro, O. N., Tamayo Duque, E. A., Rodríguez-Correa, P. A., & Valencia-Arias, A. (2026). Critical Success Factors in Digital Transformation Processes: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 88–108. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1383
Rogerson, D. (2026). Warning! — Digital Transformation Ahead: A Book Review of “5G and Beyond: Rewiring Telecom Regulation”. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1440
Rowland, M. (2024). Letter from Minister of Communications to Ms Julie Inman Grant, eSafety Commissioner. Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Canberra – documents released under Freedom of Information procedures. https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/foi-24-447-documents-released.pdf
Shaheen, H., Kumar, S. V., Vidhya, S., Ravikumar, K., Girirajan, S., & Senthilkumar, R. (2026). Security on Cloud Resource Consumption of Malicious Attacks – A Systematic Review. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1234
Wilson, C. (2026, March 13). Most teens on social media pre-ban are still on those platforms, new data suggests. Crikey. https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/03/13/teens-social-media-ban-kids-still-using-platforms/
Alaaedi, H. J. M. (2026). Secure and Robust Ant-Fly Optimized Dual Key Infrastructure Compatible with 6G Communication Technologies. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 18–45. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1318
Albanese, A., & Wells, A. (2026, January 16). 4.7 million accounts deactivated, removed or restricted. Prime Minister of Australia, Canberra. https://www.pm.gov.au/media/4-7-million-accounts-deactivated-removed-or-restricted
Blackwood, F. (2025, December 20). How are Australian parents responding to the social media ban for under-16s? Australian Broadcasting Corporation. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-20/social-media-ban-teenagers-parents-respond/106163362
Bouraoui, Z., Kahoul, A. E. M., Zarour, K., & Boumezbeur, I. (2026). RAVA: A Human-in-the-Loop Hybrid Platform for Explainable Anomaly Detection and Diagnosis in LTE RANs. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 68–87. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1425
Chutel, L. (2025, December 11). How Some Countries Are Following Australia’s Ban on Social Media for Children. New York Times, 11 December 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/world/australia/social-media-ban-australia-europe-china-usa.html
eSafety Commissioner. (2026, March 8). Social media age restrictions. https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions
European Commission. (2025, September 22). Digital Services Act: keeping us safe online. Directorate-General for Communication, European Commission. https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/digital-services-act-keeping-us-safe-online-2025-09-22_en
Fasiku, A. I., Sirkunan, J., Marsono, M. N., Rusli, M. S., Ab Rahman, A. A.-H., Mohammed, M. S., & Alexander, J. (2026). Hybrid Wireless Network-on-Chip Architectures with Load-Balanced Congestion-Aware Routing Algorithm. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1459
Fenech, S. (2026, March 20). After 100 days of the Under 16 social media ban the verdict is in – it’s a massive failure. The Tech Guide. https://www.techguide.com.au/news/internet-news/after-100-days-of-the-under-16-social-media-ban-the-verdict-is-in-its-a-massive-failure/
“Government continues commitment to online safety”. (2025, November 15). Australian Government, The Hon Anika Wells MP, Minister for Communications. https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/wells/media-release/government-continues-commitment-online-safety
Kang, C. (2026, March 26). Juries Take the Lead in the Push for Child Online Safety. New York Times, 26 March 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/technology/social-media-verdicts-child-safety.html
McKiernan, J. (2026, March 10). MPs reject call for under-16s social media ban, backing more flexible powers. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj91egkelko
Moorhead, S. (2026). Telephone Answering Machines. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 119–125. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1450
Online Safety Amendment Act. (2024). Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation. Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, Section 239B. https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2024A00127/asmade/text
“Our Case Is For All Australians”. (n.d.). Digital Freedom Project. https://www.digitalfreedomproject.org.au/our-case
Parisianne, A. (2026, March 18). Indonesia to ban children under 16 from social media following Australia’s move. SBS Indonesian. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/indonesian/en/podcast-episode/indonesia-to-ban-children-under-16-from-social-media-following-australias-move/eunitcjja
Patiño-Toro, O. N., Tamayo Duque, E. A., Rodríguez-Correa, P. A., & Valencia-Arias, A. (2026). Critical Success Factors in Digital Transformation Processes: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 88–108. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1383
Rogerson, D. (2026). Warning! — Digital Transformation Ahead: A Book Review of “5G and Beyond: Rewiring Telecom Regulation”. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1440
Rowland, M. (2024). Letter from Minister of Communications to Ms Julie Inman Grant, eSafety Commissioner. Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Canberra – documents released under Freedom of Information procedures. https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/foi-24-447-documents-released.pdf
Shaheen, H., Kumar, S. V., Vidhya, S., Ravikumar, K., Girirajan, S., & Senthilkumar, R. (2026). Security on Cloud Resource Consumption of Malicious Attacks – A Systematic Review. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1234
Wilson, C. (2026, March 13). Most teens on social media pre-ban are still on those platforms, new data suggests. Crikey. https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/03/13/teens-social-media-ban-kids-still-using-platforms/
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Published
2026-03-30
Article Details
How to Cite
Holmes, J., & Campbell, L. H. (2026). Editorial: Australia’s Social Media Ban for Under 16s. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), iii-viii. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1473
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Editorial
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright Telecommunications Association Inc.
Author Biographies
Jim Holmes, Incyte Consulting
Director of Incyte Consulting.
Leith H Campbell, Editor-in-Chief
Dr Leith Campbell has been Editor-in-Chief since October 2025.
How to Cite
Holmes, J., & Campbell, L. H. (2026). Editorial: Australia’s Social Media Ban for Under 16s. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 14(1), iii-viii. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v14n1.1473
