Children and Teen Influencers in Australia Say ‘Bye-Bye’ to Social Media

When 15-year-old Carlee Jade Clements wakes up, her first thought is to report a Get Prepared With Me video to share together with her buddies on TikTok. “I like recording every thing and posting it the second I’ve it,” says Clements, who lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Like many youngsters, Clements communicates with the world primarily by social media: Snapchat for messaging her buddies, Pinterest for inspiration, TikTok for … effectively, every thing. Not like many youngsters, she additionally makes use of social media professionally; Clements has over 37,000 followers on Instagram, the place she usually posts product evaluations (skincare, slime) and images from her modeling and performing gigs.

However as of December 10, 2025, that can change. That’s when Australia’s Social Media Minimal Age regulation will go into impact, which is able to stop Australians below 16 years previous from having social media accounts. “It’s gonna be very bizarre and quiet and remoted,” says Clements. “I’m going to really feel like I’m reduce off from the world.”

Globally, persons are beginning to understand how social media can negatively influence adolescents. Even youngsters themselves are seeing this: Nearly half of adolescents within the US declare these platforms hurt folks their age. Australia is the primary nation to take severe motion. In December 2024, legislators handed the Social Media Minimal Age Invoice, which is able to penalize tech platforms (together with TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Fb, X, YouTube, and Reddit) that permit under-16s to entry their platforms.

In response, platforms are locking accounts and adopting age verification necessities. Some platforms, together with Meta, began to implement it early.

Teen content material creators are taking steps, too. Zoey Bender, age 14, likes to publish GRWM movies and suggestions: for making buddies in highschool, for beginning seventh grade, for coping with braces. “I like being inventive about it,” says Bender, who has 58,000 followers on TikTok. “It’s my outlet.”

Her deal with was @heyitszoey. In November, she and her dad, Mark, modified it to @_heyitszoeyandmark, with the hopes that her account received’t be deleted on December 10 as a result of it’s now managed by an grownup. She says that many different youngsters with giant followings are doing the identical; Clements’ mother already manages her Instagram account.

That signifies that as soon as the age restrictions are in place, their skilled accounts will possible nonetheless exist—though as teen and child accounts are suspended, their engagement will possible go down, they usually could lose followers, too. That may imply a decline in free merchandise and in income, although it’s typically not an enormous quantity: Ava Jones, 12, who has 11,500 followers on Instagram, estimates that she makes $1,000-$2,000 Australian ($600-$1,300 US) per 12 months, which she typically spends on make-up and garments. “If that went away, I’d need to do extra chores at dwelling,” she says.