World News for Students of English

20-07-2026 07:00

An ambitious Australian law, which came into effect last December to protect youth mental health, bans children under 16 from having social media accounts. However, half a year later, studies show the ban is largely ineffective.

Most underage users can easily access and create new accounts on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. Although the government recommends strict verification steps, tech companies mostly rely on simple self-declarations of age that children can easily bypass. Sometimes, children ask their parents to complete face verification for them, or they continue using their old, unverified accounts. Furthermore, software designed to estimate a user’s age based on online activity rarely works.

In response to this non-compliance, the Australian government has doubled the maximum fines for tech giants and warned them of potential court action. Despite these early struggles, countries around the world, including the EU, are closely watching Australia’s progress as they consider implementing similar bans.

Difficult words: verification (proving that something is true, correct, or real), self-declaration (telling or writing something about yourself without showing any official papers to prove it), non-compliance (a failure or refusal to follow an official rule, law, or agreement).

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