Australian under-16s are increasingly using social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok despite a world-leading ban, according to data released by parental control software company Qustodio on Wednesday.
Australia introduced legislation in December barring children from social media platforms, with the UK, France and other countries following suit, reports AFP.
Children’s use of social media initially fell across the board after the restrictions came into effect, Qustodio’s data showed. However, activity has since increased, with usage of some apps approaching pre-ban levels.
Use of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat among children aged 10-12 and 13-15 has been rising, according to Qustodio.
For TikTok, 25.9 per cent of 13-15-year-olds are still using the video-sharing platform — just over one percentage point below the level recorded before the ban came into force. Among 10-12-year-olds, usage was just 0.06 percentage points below its pre-ban level.
“They could be accessing these platforms with VPNs, or obfuscating their ages,” Yasmin London, Global Online Safety Expert at Qustodio, said.
“But it could really be as simple as they’re just accessing these apps because the restrictions aren’t working.”
The data also showed that children were increasingly turning to WhatsApp, a messaging platform that is not covered by the ban.
Qustodio said it gathered the data by analysing anonymised monthly social media app usage among Australian children. The figures represent the percentage of children who used an app for more than five consecutive minutes at least once during a given month.
Australian officials have said the ban is intended to protect children from online bullying and “predatory algorithms”.
However, a team of Australia-based researchers found little evidence that teenagers had turned away from social media as a result of the restrictions in a peer-reviewed study published in June.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s government said this week that it would introduce legislation that could see companies such as Meta fined up to 10 per cent of their global revenue if they fail to comply.
