Australian social media ban: Celebrities weigh-in on ban beginning on December 10, 2025
Australia’s social media ban for kids has earned international support across the globe. The latest to praise the move is Vogue icon Anna Wintour. Read what the rich and famous have had to say.
Fashion and media powerhouse, Anna Wintour, has thrown her support behind Australia’s sweeping new social media ban for children under 16.
Speaking on the popular podcast The Rest is Politics: Leading, the Vogue icon used her platform to praise the nation for taking decisive action to protect young people’s mental health.
“I’m very proud of Australia that they’ve taken a stand on social media and young people,” she said.
“Because I think the addiction to social media is incredibly stressful and very harmful to mental health.”
Her endorsement comes as the world-first Online Safety – Social Media Age Restrictions – Act 2025 came into force, preventing anyone under 16 from setting up accounts on major platforms including TikTok, Instagram and X.
Superstar American media identity Oprah Winfrey also backed the change, telling a packed audience at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre that the ban would transform lives.
“I think you’re going to change the lives of an entire generation of kids who are going to have better lives,” she said at her In Conversation event on Thursday night.
“All the research is telling us what is happening to these young people’s brains. You are going to save a lot of children.”
The new law — sparked by The Daily Telegraph’s Let Them Be Kids campaign — requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to block underage users, with penalties of up to $49.5 million for companies that fail to comply.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said global regulators were closely watching Australia’s approach, which she described as a direct challenge to social media companies’ reliance on young users.
“What this effectively means is there are 2.5 million 8–15-year-olds they can no longer monetise,” she said.
“That’s where the pushback was. We may see some cases. We may see some blatant noncompliance, but we’ve got plans for that.”
TikTok users were among the first to notice the shift, waking on Wednesday to an in-app alert notifying them that Australia’s rules had changed overnight.
When affected users tried to open the app, they were met with a message that their account had been locked under new Australian law.
The full screen notification reads, “Your account has been locked.
The Albanese Government argues the restrictions are necessary to shield children from online harms including cyber-bullying, exposure to inappropriate content and compulsive use patterns linked to worsening mental health outcomes.
Australia’s social media ban for under 16-year-olds begun on December 10 and the debate has spread worldwide, with some of the world’s most famous and powerful weighing-in.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY
Chris Pratt, actor
“I think it’s a smart move, definitely. I hope you’re not the last. I’m always a little bit resistant to imposing things upon anybody, but when it comes to kids, I think it’s important to protect them.
“And so as much as I believe in liberty, I also believe that protecting kids from social media is really, really important.”
Russell Crowe, actor
“I think instead of other people complaining about it being more difficult for them to use the internet … think about what the point is, think about what the goal is – and the goal is a good goal.”
Rowan Crothers, Paralympic Gold Medallist Swimmer
“I was active on social media when I made my first Australian team. Having fans and a platform at such a young age was cool, but I also got a lot of hate and abuse online,” he said.
“Strangers on the internet didn’t understand my disability; they saw me as a person who looked ‘normal’ and labelled me a cheat, or they chose only to see me for my disability, calling me all kinds of horrible slurs.”
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host
“I think you’re going to change the lives of an entire generation of kids who are going to have better lives,” she said.
“All the research is telling us what is happening to these young people’s brains.
“You are going to save a lot of children.”
Julia Gillard, former PM
“I do genuinely think governments around the world need to treat social media with the same kinds of rigour that traditional media are.”
Piers Morgan, English broadcaster
“I think Australians have it right about this ban. young impressionable minds should not be exposed to this stuff.
“Social media amplifies everything to a degree that it feels like it’s the world ending.
“Now the chances are someone is getting on their camera phone and within an hour young kids around the world are all watching an alligator eat a human being in graphic gruesome detail.
“What happened with smartphones from 2010, a lot of the phones got smart with all of the apps, kids’ rates of anxiety, depression and suicide have dramatically increased.
“It’s because of the negative dopamine rushes that are constant, all the time, and the fear of missing out stuff and there’s no escape.”
Celeste Barber, comedian with 10 million followers
“My kids don’t have social media. you just don’t know what’s out there. I personally think it’s (the ban) a great thing”.
Ben Elton, English comedian
“I would carry on with what I think is a wonderful, brave decision by the current government to tackle the curse of social media depriving young people of their childhood,” he said.
“And I think I’m proud, as an Australian, that our government, uniquely in the world, has had the guts to stand up to the tech bros and say we will not let children’s imaginations be stolen on our watch if we can possibly avoid it.”
Mette Frederiksen, Denmark Prime Minister
“Mobile phones and social media are stealing our children’s childhoods … we have unleashed a monster.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
“In my days, we as a society taught our children that they could not smoke, drink or watch adult content until a certain age,” she said.
“I believe it’s time we consider doing the same for social media; Australia has bravely been this first, risking criticism and punishment from powerful companies.”
Daniel Gorringe, AFL football commentator
“I think this is a great thing.”
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Originally published as Australian social media ban: Celebrities weigh-in on ban beginning on December 10, 2025
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