Let’s keep it a buck: you can't tell these kids what to do, especially when it comes to their phones. Australia tried to be the first country to put a hard lock on social media for anyone under 16, thinking they could just switch off the internet for the youth. But three months after the law dropped, the whole plan is looking like an absolute joke. The government thought they cooked, but they actually just burnt the whole meal.

A new study from the University of Newcastle just published in the BMJ, and the numbers are wild. About 85% of under-16s are still active on all the major platforms. TikTok, X, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube—the kids are still scrolling, posting, and texting like nothing ever happened. The state tried to throw up a massive wall, but the youth found the back door in two seconds flat.

The politicians passed this big law back in December 2025, hyping it up like they were really doing something to protect the community. But the researchers found "limited implementation, incomplete compliance, and substantial circumvention." That’s just a fancy way of saying the tech companies didn't care about the rules, and the kids sure as hell weren't listening to them.

The biggest joke of the whole situation is the age verification. These multi-billion-dollar tech giants basically put up a pop-up saying "are you 16?" and let everyone slide. The main checks were just asking kids their age and telling them to upload a selfie. It’s like a bouncer at the club who just asks you your zodiac sign and lets you in without looking at your ID.

According to the study, only 5% of 12-to-13-year-olds and 11% of 14-to-15-year-olds actually had to show any real, official photo ID to get on their accounts. The rest of them just bypassed the system with zero effort. The platforms kept the doors wide open because, at the end of the day, they need those young eyeballs to keep their pockets fat.

And if you think a teenager isn’t going to hustle to stay connected, you’re trippin'. The study showed that 15% of the younger teens and 19% of the older ones just set up fake accounts. Another 3% hopped on VPNs to mask their location. More than half of them didn't even bother with all that and just kept using their own original accounts. The kids ran circles around the law, no cap.

The researchers even admitted that this ban might only work for kids under eight. Yeah, no kidding. An eight-year-old doesn't know how to bypass a block yet. But once they hit middle school and start getting smart, the government has zero control. You can’t use toddler rules on teenagers who grew up with a smartphone in their hands.