‘Prepare for intense emotions’: Teens plot workarounds as social media ban begins

December 10, 2025 — 4:00am

Labor’s ambitious plans to ban young teenagers from social media will be put to the test on Wednesday, when the world’s biggest social media platforms are expected to kick more than half a million children off their apps, while thousands of families plot ways to get around the new rules.

Psychologists are telling parents to prepare for intense emotions as their teens grapple with the overnight change to their social habits, while jurisdictions from Canada to the European Union will be closely monitoring how the tech giants comply with Australia’s new laws.

Ariel De Souza-Bell, 13, is one of at least half a million teens who could find themselves kicked off social media on Wednesday.James Brickwood

The ban has met early resistance – two teens have launched a High Court challenge with the backing of the libertarian Digital Freedom Project – and teenagers online have been sharing tips for using masks, make-up, their parents’ details or VPNs to get around the age-assurance technologies.

But the Albanese government is maintaining its optimism while tempering community expectations for the next few months by conceding there will be people who get around the ban at first, and the ultimate goal is long-term behavioural change that will take years to properly evaluate.

Its message, however, has been overshadowed in recent days by an expenses scandal engulfing Communications Minister Anika Wells that began with controversy over the $95,000 the government spent on flights for the minister and two others to spruik the ban in New York in September.

Wells is expected to promote the ban alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant on Wednesday, continuing the government’s appeal to parents it says have been losing the battle to keep kids off screens.

While most voters have thrown their support behind the policy, according to new polling by this masthead’s Resolve poll, most are sceptical that it will work. Only 35 per cent are confident that social platforms will manage to effectively block users under the age of 16, and less than a third of parents are planning to fully enforce it.

Sydney mother Cristina De Souza-Bell said her daughter Ariel, 13, was confident she could get around the restrictions. “She might be able to go to another website that they can start to use,” she said. “[Ariel and her friends have] been talking about it and she thinks she’ll be OK.”

De Souza-Bell said it was still unclear which platforms Ariel would lose access to from Wednesday, because she had been trialling age estimation tools leading up the ban, and some apps had estimated the 13-year-old was older than 16 when she was wearing make-up.

“I don’t know how to prepare, to be honest,” De Souza-Bell said, adding she hoped her daughter would get more time back in her day if the ban worked. “She used to be a very good reader. I hope she goes back to that.”

Dr Erika Penney, president of the Australian Clinical Psychology Association, said there would be a significant adjustment period for teenagers as the changes took effect.

“Losing access to these platforms may feel really overwhelming for a young person and parents will be on the frontline responding to any heightened emotions and restoring a sense of offline connection,” Dr Penney said.

“I’d really encourage parents to validate any feelings their children might have and maybe even join them for a social media detox over the holidays. Even for children who may have had negative experiences on social media, the loss of an account may still trigger a sense of loss.”

From Thursday, 10 major tech platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit – will have to demonstrate to Australia’s eSafety commission that they have identified and removed accounts of under-16s.

Snapchat has flagged to Senate estimates it has 440,000 underage users, while TikTok said it has 200,000. Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and Threads, began blocking new accounts for children under 16 last Thursday, while revoking access to existing users. The government expected this to affect some 350,000 Instagram users aged 13 to 15, and 150,000 Facebook users in that age group.

Google did not follow through with its threat from July to sue, and YouTube has said it will automatically sign out all users detected to be under 16, although they’ll still be able to watch content without logging in.

Reddit has started alerting users of changes and is publicly saying it intends to comply with the law, although The Australian Financial Review on Tuesday reported it had enlisted lawyers to contest the ban in the High Court. Reddit, in a statement, has called the ban’s application “legally erroneous”.

Meanwhile, alternative platforms have surged in popularity, with Lemon8 and Yope shooting to the top of app store charts. Lemon8 has been running paid ads on TikTok promoting itself as an alternative, with one user post stating they “love lemon 8” because “it’s not affected by the social media ban and you can cross-post to TikTok”.

Wells last week said the government would not hesitate to ban additional apps if children flocked to them, and flagged further announcements would be made about Lemon8.

But she doesn’t plan to issue fines immediately and will instead give tech companies about six months to demonstrate they’re following the rules before it starts handing out $49.5 million penalties for breaches.