This report outlines early parent-reported findings regarding children's experiences following the introduction of Australia's social media age restrictions under the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), which took effect on 10 December 2025. Based on an anonymous survey of 898 parents and carers conducted between 19 January and 2 February 2026, the study details trends in account deactivation, retention and circumvention across ten popular age-restricted platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube.

Key findings

• There was a reduction in the proportion of children having accounts on 10 age‑restricted platforms following the implementation of the social media age restrictions.
• Despite overall reductions in account ownership, a substantial proportion of children under 16 retained accounts on age‑restricted platforms.
• Platform‑led deactivation was the main reason children no longer had accounts on age‑restricted social media platforms.
• The most common reason children still had their social media accounts was that they had not yet been asked by the platform to confirm their age.
• While consistent trends were observed across platforms, important differences in experiences of account deactivation and retention are evident and should be examined at the platform-level.