Little evidence that Australia's under-16 social media restrictions have curbed use among adolescents (techxplore.com)

submitted 1 day ago by lemmydev2@infosec.pub to c/pulse_of_truth@infosec.pub

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There is little evidence that Australia's Social Media Minimum Age Act has led to any immediate reductions in social media use by under-16s, according to an early analysis of survey data published by The BMJ.

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[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

While the researchers acknowledge that legislative changes take time to show results, they argue that current platform age-verification checks are inadequate and that many under-16s are actively bypassing these restrictions.

The researchers found that more than 85% of participants under 16 reported using social media platforms subject to the act at follow-up, mostly via their own accounts (54%–67%). Of these, 66% reported exposure to platform age-verification checks, most commonly self-declared age (24%–39%) and uploading a picture ("selfie") (13%–27%).

seems like the plan everyone said would be ineffective has turned out to be ineffective... shocked pikachu

[-] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 4 points 1 day ago

It's like trying to fix a knife wound by putting a sign next to the wound saying no infections allowed rather than doing something about the knife welding maniac ..

this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026

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