Australia’s Online Safety Amendment: What platforms need to know

Should children and teens have access to social media? 

This is, perhaps, one of society’s biggest current debates. Proponents argue that social media offers youth the opportunity to connect with friends and peers to collaborate, learn, and exchange ideas. Opponents, on the other hand, argue that social media has the potential to expose children to harmful content, hate speech, and abuse.

With an eye toward protecting the youth, governments around the world are increasingly seeking to regulate social media platforms by passing laws and regulations that aim to keep children and teens away from harmful content. Here’s how it’s playing out in Australia.

What is the Australian social media ban?

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, informally called the Australian social media ban, refers to a bill that requires some social media platforms operating in Australia to take reasonable steps to keep Australians younger than 16 off their platforms. It is an amendment to the country’s Online Safety Act 2021.

When does the Australian social media ban go into effect? 

Both Houses of Parliament passed the Australian social media ban on November 29, 2024 and it became an act after receiving Royal Assent in December. The government is expected to begin enforcing the bill’s age restriction requirements by December 10, 2025. The timing gives social media platforms operating in Australia roughly 12 months to design and implement a compliant age restriction strategy.

The government has taken several steps to create clarity in the meantime. 

For example, in June 2025, the government released preliminary findings from its Age Assurance Technology Trial, conducted by the Age Check Certification Scheme. The trial found that social media platforms in Australia can choose from different technologies and a range of approaches for verifying users’ ages. 

And in July 2025, the Online Safety (Age‑Restricted Social Media Platforms) Rules 2025 clarified which platforms are exempt from the law.

What platforms does it affect?

While some label the law a social media ban, the text of the bill specifically notes that its age restriction requirements only apply to certain kinds of social media platforms. It calls these age-restricted social media platforms, which are defined as a platform that:

• Has the sole purpose, or a significant purpose, of enabling online social interaction between two or more end-users

• Allows end-users to link to, or interact with, some or all other end-users

• Allows end-users to post material on the service

• Is an electronic service specified in the legislative rules

Which platforms are exempt?

The bill specifically notes that online business interactions are not included. This could mean online marketplaces and other ecommerce businesses that allow users to post content (such as reviews, photos, etc.) are exempt from the bill’s requirements. 

The rules from July 2025 also exempt some services from the minimum age obligations, including:

• Messaging services, such as email, voice, and video calling services

• Online games   

• Platforms for professional networking and development

• Education services

• Health services

What does the law require social media platforms to do? 

The law introduces a social media minimum age framework (SMMA) that requires regulated social media platforms to enforce mandatory minimum age requirements. It also requires platforms to have data privacy protections and limitations in place. Here’s a closer look at these requirements. 

Age assurance

The bill states that age-restricted social media platforms must take “reasonable steps” to ensure that Australians younger than 16 cannot create an account on their platforms. The bill also requires social media companies to identify and remove existing accounts created by Australians who are under 16 years old.

Although the bill does not specify how platforms must comply with this requirement, it does make an important stipulation. If a platform intends to collect a user’s government-issued ID (including digital IDs) to determine their age, it must also provide alternative methods that are not dependent on the user having an ID. 

For example, age estimation, made possible through selfie verification, could be one such option available to platforms. Some forms of database verification may also be allowed. 

Data privacy

Under the bill, if a social media company collects user data for age assurance or age verifications, it can’t use the data for other purposes without the user’s consent. The users can also withdraw consent at any time. 

Additionally, platforms are required to destroy collected information once it has been used for the purposes for which it was collected. 

What are the penalties for non-compliance?

Business entities that don’t comply with the SMMA minimum age requirements can face penalties of up to 150,000 penalty units (equivalent to approximately 49.5 million Australian dollars). There are similar penalties for data breaches involving users’ personal information. 

Individuals, including children and parents who circumvent the law, won’t face penalties or fines.

How Persona can help

Persona’s flexible identity platform helps organizations around the world create safe, compliant, and age-appropriate experiences for users. We’ve been extensively tested and certified by third-party organizations, including the Age Check Certification Scheme, iBeta, and Kantara. You can use our platform to: 

• Tailor age assurance by jurisdiction: Leverage Dynamic Flow to ensure you’re collecting the right information and performing the right types of verification for each region you operate in, while minimizing friction and maximizing conversion.

• Choose your age assurance methods: Persona supports a wide range of age assurance methods, including selfie age estimation, government ID verifications, and database checks. 

• Avoid privacy headaches: Fine-tuned redaction and data retention controls empower you to protect user data and PII, while audit trails facilitate a record of access for compliance purposes. 

• Detect and mitigate a variety of fraud: A broad swath of fraud prevention tools, including generative-AI detection, passive signal collection, and link analysis make it possible to detect other types of fraud threatening your platform and user experience. 

Ready to learn more about how Persona can help you get age assurance right, whether you’re operating in Australia, the US, UK, Germany, or other jurisdictions with age restriction requirements? Reach out to book a demo or try Persona today.