1.3 million children under 13 already active on social media as Kyam Maher proposes new ‘post and boast’ laws

New research has found 1.3 million children under 13 are active on social media, amid a new crackdown in SA on thugs who use social media to brag about crimes.

More than 1.3 million Australian children under the age of 13 are already active on social media despite existing age restrictions, the nation’s eSafety Commissioner will reveal today, raising fears the “horse has already bolted” on kids’ online safety.

New research undertaken by the eSafety office has found 84 per cent of children aged 8 to 12-years-old report using at least one online service since the start of the year.

Three in four had already accessed a social media or messaging platform by the time they turned 8, while almost 100 per cent of 12-year-olds had done so – despite being under the current official age limit for social media sites.

“Considering Australia’s population of roughly 1.6 million 8-12-year-olds, this suggests that approximately 1.34 million have used an online service since the beginning of 2024,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant will tell attendees at Sydney’s social media summit.

Millions of Australian children are using social media. Picture: Denis Charlet / AFP

Her office surveyed kids’ use of BeReal, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, Steam, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Discord, Signal, Pinterest, WhatsApp and Telegram, all of which require users to be at least 13 years old to sign up, or in the case of Telegram 16-plus.

However, 40 per cent of children said they had their own accounts, bypassing existing age ‘verification’. On most platforms this simply requires users to input their birthdate, without needing to cite any evidence, or tick a box stating they are 13 or over.

More than half of those surveyed had used a parent or carer’s account, while six per cent had used a sibling or friends’ account.

Australian authorities currently have no remit to enforce the age restrictions set out in each platforms’ terms of service, however legislation to be introduced by the Albanese government this year would explicitly ban underage users.

The Prime Minister has indicated support for an age limit of 16 years old, in line with News Corp’s Let Them Be Kids campaign. A $6.5m trial of “age assurance technology” to enforce the new laws – such as biometric age estimation, email verification and account confirmation processes – will begin later this month.

It comes as criminal behaviour posted to social media including violence, weapons and destruction of property will be targeted under new proposed laws which would be “the most comprehensive in the nation”.

The trend of posting and boasting, where criminal activity is filmed and shared online, will be targeted with penalties of up to two years in prison under laws the government is set to consult on.

It comes after, in January this year, shocking videos of violence between South Australian schoolchildren emerged via an Instagram account encouraging students to engage in fights.

It featured more than a dozen incidents including some involving students from private and public schools engaging in threatening behaviour and brawls before being shut down.

The bill would also make it an offence for those who publish material relating to criminal acts regardless of whether they are involved in the behaviour itself.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher announced the government would begin consultation on the proposed post and boast laws. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the law “applies equally to adults and children”.

Similar laws have been introduced in NSW and Queensland which specifically target breaking and entering and illegal use of a motor vehicle.

“South Australia’s laws would be much broader, and that is violent offences against the person and property offences,” Mr Maher said.

“Particularly those offences like assaults, we see people involved in fights, then posting and boasting on social media, we want to make sure they’re captured (with the law).

“The laws that we’re putting out would be the most comprehensive in the nation.”

Young people seen posing with wads of cash on social media, which an SA crime victim believes was part of what was stolen from her.

Young people seen posing with wads of cash on social media, which an SA crime victim believes was part of what was stolen from her.

Defences for posting illegal behaviour would include to inform the public or in the course of carrying out law enforcement activities.

The Education Department and advocacy bodies for children and young people are set to be consulted on the proposed laws from Wednesday until early November.

The announcement comes during the week of the SA part of the government’s two-day social media summit which will begin in Sydney on October 10, with the event at the Adelaide Convention Centre the day after.

Among the speakers at the Adelaide event will be former Chief Justice of the High Court Robert French, who will discuss his report that outlines a legislative path to ban children under the age of 14 from accessing social media.

Originally published as 1.3 million children under 13 already active on social media as Kyam Maher proposes new ‘post and boast’ laws