On 10 December 2025, Australia will enforce a first-of-its-kind legislation requiring social media platforms to restrict and remove users under the age of 16. From that point forward, no user under 16 will be permitted a legal presence on social media within Australia.
This isn't a parental control setting or a quiet update to platform terms. It's a legislative shift that places legal responsibility on platforms to verify user age and take “reasonable steps” to block underage access. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and any service with a social feed, messaging functions or user-created content are in scope, and the list is still growing.
When it comes to influencer marketing, these changes matter. Audience demographics will shift. Performance data will fluctuate. Gen Alpha & Gen Z focussed creators will see drops in reach and engagement, and brands targeting these consumers will need to rethink who they work with, how they brief campaigns, and how they evaluate value.
This isn’t a hypothetical change. It’s a real-world adjustment to how social media functions for creators, advertisers and platforms alike. And we’re about to be its global pilot study.
Australia’s new age restriction laws fall under the Online Safety Amendment (Restricted Access Systems) Act, which comes into effect on 10 December 2025. The legislation gives the eSafety Commissioner the authority to require social media platforms to implement age assurance systems that prevent users under 16 from creating or keeping an account.
In practice, platforms must take “reasonable steps” to verify user age and restrict access if users do not meet the age threshold. The law does not penalise underage users directly. Instead, the responsibility sits with platforms to prove they are keeping their services age-compliant.
The restrictions apply to any service defined as “social media” under the Online Safety Act. This includes platforms with features such as user profiles, public or semi-public content feeds, messaging tools or user-generated content. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and more are among the confirmed affected channels, with messaging services and games currently unaffected by the restrictions.
How platforms will verify age is still being worked out. Proposed solutions include ID checks, facial recognition and AI-based age estimation, but each method raises privacy, compliance and technical concerns. What is clear is that the standard has changed. Platforms will need to show they are actively preventing underage access, and enforcement will not rely on good intentions.
Although the legislation targets social media platforms, its impact will reach users, creators and brands across the board.
Under-16 users will no longer be legally allowed to hold social media accounts. This applies to both new and existing profiles. Once enforcement begins, users who cannot verify they are 16 or older are expected to lose access. The exact experience will vary by platform, but the result is the same: those who fall below the age threshold will be removed or restricted.
Social media platforms will carry the compliance burden. While the eSafety Commissioner has not released a complete list of affected platforms, any service with user profiles, content feeds, messaging tools or user-created content is likely to be included. Any service that operates in Australia will be expected to implement age verification and access controls. So far, the eSafety Commissioner has confirmed that TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Kick, Reddit & Threads will be restricted. At this stage, messaging only platforms and gaming platforms are exempt from the restrictions.
Creators with younger audiences may see noticeable shifts in reach and engagement. Even if their content is not designed for children, audience data may change as platforms begin enforcing age restrictions. This could affect eligibility for campaigns, pricing structures and performance expectations.
Brands and agencies will need to reassess how they select creators and evaluate campaign results. Categories that have traditionally leaned on youth-driven momentum may need to refocus efforts on older Gen Z audiences, family creators or content that aligns with adult purchasing behaviour.
This legislation is not just about restricting access. It will redefine how digital audiences are shaped and how commercial value is calculated across the influencer landscape.
While this legislation centres on user safety, its commercial impact will be felt across every corner of the influencer economy. The law changes how audiences are built, how performance is measured and, ultimately, how creators are valued.
Once under-16 accounts are restricted or removed, campaign data will look different. Brands that have relied on top-of-funnel awareness metrics such as reach and impressions may see temporary declines, particularly on TikTok and Instagram where younger users drive high engagement. CPMs and CPCs may rise as verified audiences shrink and ad delivery becomes more competitive.
For influencer campaigns, engagement rates will fluctuate as audience compositions rebalance. Creators whose followers were partially made up of underage accounts could see drops in likes, comments and views. For brands, this makes short-term performance benchmarking difficult and highlights the need to focus on verified audience segments rather than overall volume.
For Gen Alpha & Gen Z focussed creators, creator pricing will likely enter a recalibration phase. As reach weakens, creators with verified, conversion-ready audiences will hold more leverage. Brands will increasingly pay for influence over purchasing behaviour, not passive visibility.
Rates tied purely to impressions may lose relevance, while cost-per-engagement and ROI-linked models could become more standard. Expect a clearer distinction between creators who can deliver reach at scale and those who can deliver verified conversion.
For youth-adjacent brands, budgets may shift toward family creators or older Gen Z talent who can connect with both teen culture and household decision-makers. These creators will become the bridge between cultural relevance and commercial compliance.
This adjustment period will be uncomfortable for some but healthy for the industry overall. It will encourage stronger data transparency, more accurate audience insights and a higher standard for campaign reporting. Verified reach will become the new currency of trust.
In the long run, creators who maintain authentic engagement with legally compliant audiences will be positioned to negotiate higher rates and longer-term partnerships. Brands that adapt early will benefit from cleaner metrics, better targeting efficiency and greater confidence in campaign performance.
The rollout of Australia’s social media restrictions will reshape how audiences are built and measured. Whether your brand relies on youth engagement or not, the changes will affect how digital performance is tracked and how partnerships are valued. The smartest move now is to plan for both compliance and continuity.
Start by reviewing your audience mix. If your campaigns, products or partnerships reach users under 16, those audiences will soon be out of legal reach. This doesn’t mean your brand disappears from relevance, but it does mean your channel strategy and creative approach need a rethink.
Revisit your targeting and creative. Shift messaging to older Gen Z, family buyers or parents who influence spending. Explore family creators or those producing inter-generational content that naturally captures household attention without breaching the new rules. Campaigns that depend on trend participation from teens will need stronger context or a new point of view to stay compliant and effective.
Audit your data and ad tools. Many targeting systems still group 13- to 17-year-olds together, which will soon be an issue. Work with partners or platforms to confirm how those segments will be filtered once the law takes effect.
Finally, review your creator contracts and briefs. Confirm that audiences are age-verified where possible, and clarify expectations around engagement changes that may occur when the under-16 segment is removed.
Even if your brand doesn’t target teens, the ripple effects will still reach your metrics. Audience sizes may contract, but remaining followers will represent more verifiable, higher-value data. Use this moment to tighten your strategy around audience quality, not volume.
Creators should take the same approach. Check analytics, monitor shifts in engagement and communicate with brand partners about any visible change. The creators who adapt their content to appeal to older Gen Z and young adult audiences will continue to perform well once enforcement begins.
Across the board, this is less about restriction and more about recalibration.
Australia’s social media ban marks the beginning of a new phase in digital regulation. It moves age assurance from theory to enforcement, forcing platforms to take real responsibility for who uses their products. The intention is clear: to make online spaces safer for young people. But the impact will reach far beyond that goal.
For brands and creators, this moment is about adaptation rather than disruption. Youth audiences have always shaped online culture, and they will continue to influence trends from the sidelines. What changes now is visibility. Campaign performance, audience data and creator rates will all reflect a more transparent, age-verified landscape.
The next few months will test how quickly the industry can adjust to this reality. The marketers and creators who embrace it early, through better data hygiene, clearer audience strategies and smarter partnerships, will be the ones who thrive in a post-ban environment.
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