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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteIn Australia, putting a parent’s name on a social-media account is not a general exemption for a child under 16. Since 10 December 2025, services classified as age-restricted must take reasonable steps to stop Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts. If the platform determines that the child—not the parent or another adult—is really using the account, it should remove or deactivate it.
A parent can continue using their own account. The difficult cases are shared devices, adult-managed profiles, creator accounts and accounts where a child does most of the posting. The outcome depends on who actually uses the account, whether the service is currently age-restricted, the service’s own terms and whether the material can be viewed without logging in.
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What Australia’s social-media minimum age requires
The Australian rule took effect on 10 December 2025 under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024. It places the legal obligation on platforms, not on children or parents. An age-restricted service must take “reasonable steps” to prevent an Australian under 16 from having an account. A child and their parent are not fined simply because the child accesses a restricted account.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The rule concerns having an account. It is not a blanket ban on the internet or on every piece of social content. A person under 16 can still view publicly available posts that do not require a login. The exact services covered can change as platforms add features or change their primary purpose, so a list found in an old article may no longer be reliable.
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Does a parent’s account let a child keep using social media?
eSafety’s parent guidance answers the question by focusing on the real user rather than the name entered during sign-up:
“Age-restricted platforms are required to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from having accounts, so if a platform is satisfied that an account is held by a user under 16, and not their parent or another adult, the account should be removed or deactivated.”
That creates two different situations:
The parent is genuinely the account user
An adult may maintain and use their own account while a child is nearby, appears in videos, or helps with filming. That does not automatically make the account a child’s account. The parent remains responsible for complying with the service’s rules, privacy settings and advertising or creator requirements.
The child is the regular user
If the child logs in, posts, messages, follows accounts and manages the profile as their own, calling it a parent’s account does not guarantee that it can remain active. The platform may assess signals such as age-assurance checks, reports, account activity or information supplied by the account holder. If it is satisfied that the under-16 child is the user, eSafety says the account should be removed or deactivated.
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Platforms also impose their own account-management terms. eSafety cautions: “Many online services also have their own rules, guidelines, and terms of use for account management and user behaviour.” A service could restrict adult-managed profiles, require the adult to appear in content, or prohibit sharing credentials even where Australian age rules do not decide the issue.
Which services are age-restricted?
eSafety’s guidance updated in 2026 identifies Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube as age-restricted services. The regulator also lists services that have notified it of their own view that they are age-restricted, including BlueSky, Match services, Yubo, Wizz, Lemon8 and BigoLive. The authoritative list is the current eSafety page; reassessment is possible as services evolve.
Some categories are excluded when their sole or primary purpose is messaging, email, voice or video calling, online gaming, professional networking or development, education, or health support. eSafety examples considered not age-restricted on 10 December 2025 included Discord, Google Classroom, Messenger, Pinterest, Roblox, WhatsApp and YouTube Kids. These are examples from that assessment, not a permanent safe list: a service’s features, use and purpose can change.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →| Situation | How the Australian rule applies | What to check |
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| Parent uses their own profile and controls it | The account is generally the adult’s account; the child’s presence in content does not by itself transfer ownership. | Platform terms, privacy settings and who performs logins and account management. |
| Child under 16 operates the profile under a parent’s name | The platform may remove or deactivate it if it is satisfied the child is the user. | Current age-restriction status and the platform’s age-assurance or account rules. |
| Child views a public post without signing in | The account restriction does not itself prevent access to publicly available content. | Whether the page, video or post remains visible without a login. |
| Service primarily provides messaging, gaming, education or health support | These categories can be excluded from the age-restricted definition. | The service’s current features and eSafety’s latest assessment. |
What age assurance means for families
Age assurance is the process a service uses to estimate or verify a person’s age or age range. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says there is no single mandated method. A platform may build its own system, use an age-assurance provider, or combine methods on the same service.
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Possible methods include a selfie-based estimate, logging in through another service that has age information, or submitting an image of government identification. The method selected is the platform’s decision; there is no parent-purchased device, router, phone setting or subscription that creates an exception to the minimum age.
Privacy obligations apply to information collected for age assurance. Families should read the platform’s explanation of what is collected, why it is needed, how long it is retained and whether it is shared with a provider. An age check is not a licence to reuse identity documents for unrelated purposes.
What parents should do now
- Confirm the jurisdiction. The guidance in this article is for Australia. If the child lives elsewhere or uses an account while overseas, check that country’s law and the service’s current terms separately.
- Check the current eSafety list. Use the eSafety FAQ and service assessments, because classifications can be reassessed.
- Identify the real user. Write down who logs in, posts, replies to messages, controls recovery details and makes moderation decisions. A parent’s name or payment card is not proof that the adult is the user.
- Read the platform’s Help or Support pages. Look for rules on shared credentials, guardian-managed profiles, creator accounts, child appearances and age appeals. The platform’s contract may be stricter than the legal minimum.
- Separate public viewing from account use. If the child only needs to watch a public page, test whether it is available without signing in instead of creating or sharing an account.
- Prepare for an age check honestly. Do not submit a fake date of birth, someone else’s identity document or misleading facial information. Keep records of the adult account holder’s contact and recovery details.
- Use family support. eSafety provides a free family guide, action plan and conversation prompts for discussing the restrictions and finding other ways to stay connected.
What happens if a platform removes the account?
When a platform believes an account belongs to an under-16 user, eSafety says it should explain what is happening and provide an opportunity to download data. Before an account is closed, the adult account holder should follow the service’s export instructions for posts, photos, videos, messages and contacts that the service makes available.
Save only material the adult is entitled to retain, and avoid copying another person’s private messages or personal information. If the platform offers an age-assurance appeal, use the official in-app or Help-centre process rather than a link sent by an unknown person.
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Deactivation does not mean the child has been punished under Australian law. It is the platform carrying out its obligation to prevent an under-16 account. The service can still enforce separate rules for impersonation, credential sharing, harassment or misleading information.
Creator accounts, income and established audiences
Some children have built a substantial following or earn money through posts. eSafety’s parent FAQ recognises this concern, but an existing audience or income stream does not create an age exemption. The account must still be assessed under the same age-restriction rules and the platform’s terms.
Where an adult genuinely owns and operates the account, the family should document the adult’s role, keep the adult in control of logins and contracts, and check whether the platform permits content featuring a minor. Those steps may help demonstrate who uses the account, but they cannot guarantee that a platform will accept the arrangement.
Scams and supposed workarounds to avoid
Do not buy an “age-verified” account, use a fake identity document, borrow another person’s selfie or pay someone who promises to bypass an age check. eSafety warns families about scams offering fake IDs or access to age-verified accounts. Such schemes can expose identity data, steal the account or violate criminal and platform rules.
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Parental-control software, a new phone, a different SIM card or a home router can limit access, but none changes who is using an account and none creates a legal exception. The same applies to changing the birth date after registration or moving the account to a private profile.
What the available numbers do—and do not—show
eSafety reported that age-restricted platforms had removed access to 4.7 million under-16 accounts across Australia by mid-December 2025. That is a platform-reported removal figure relayed by the regulator; it does not establish that every under-16 user stopped using social media, because public viewing and other services may remain available.
In eSafety’s parent FAQ, one in 10 children aged 8 to 12 said a parent or carer did not know about at least one of their social-media accounts. This is a specific survey finding, not a measurement of every Australian child or of current prevalence after implementation.
eSafety’s March 2026 attitudes report covered qualitative fieldwork conducted from 3 to 26 November 2025 with 43 children under 16 and 29 parents or caregivers, 72 participants in total. The report says this open-ended work identifies themes and does not produce statistical findings or measure how common any attitude is.
A practical decision test
Use these four questions before deciding whether a family arrangement is likely to comply:
- Who actually uses the account? If the child performs the ordinary account activities, treat it as a child-used account rather than relying on the adult’s name.
- Is the service currently age-restricted in Australia? Check eSafety’s live assessment, not an old app list.
- Do the platform’s terms allow the arrangement? Look for rules on adult-managed accounts, shared access, minors in content and identity verification.
- Does the child need an account at all? Public content that works without login may be viewable even when account creation is restricted.
If the answers remain unclear, contact the platform through its official support channel and use eSafety’s family resources. For readers outside Australia, these answers cannot be assumed to apply: local age limits, enforcement duties and platform policies may be different.
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