Key Takeaways:

Most Australian parents believe parents should be able to decide if their teen under the age of 16 is able to use social media apps.

• Parents would prefer to decide if their teen can use social media over a ban. Nearly two-thirds of parents surveyed (63%) say they would rather parents be “able to choose if their teen under the age of 16 is able to use social media apps,” as opposed to a ban on social media for everyone under 16 (37%).

  • The ban has not made it easier for most parents to keep track of what their teen is doing online. Among parents whose teen used social media before the ban, about three in five (59%) report no change in how easy or difficult it has been to keep track of what their teen is doing online since the ban started. The remainder are split between those who say it has become easier (22%) and harder (20%).

• A majority of parents say they are willing to help their teens access social media post-ban — or have already done so. Among parents whose teen used social media pre-ban, a third (33%) report they’ve helped their teen continue to access social media post-ban (e.g., by giving them access to their account or creating a new account for them). A further 29% say they’d be willing to consider it if their teen asked, though 36% would not be willing to do so.

• Most Australian teens report continued social media use after the ban. Four-in-five teens (80%) say they’ve still been using social media accounts since the ban started in December. And, among parents whose teen used social media before the ban began, 71% believe their teen has still been using social media post-ban, though 6% are unsure.
  • Teens and parents alike perceive this behavior as widespread: Nearly two-thirds of both parents (65%) and teens (63%) believe most or almost all teens in Australia are still using social media despite the ban.

Many Australian teens report spending more time on other online activities and unrestricted platforms since the ban began.

Online Activities

• A sizable minority of teens report spending more time playing video games (43%) and watching videos/shows on streaming apps (41%) since the ban came into effect. By comparison, less than one in five say they have spent less time on each of these activities post-ban.
  • In addition, a plurality of teens (47%) do not report a meaningful change in their time spent messaging/video calling people they know since the ban started. One third (33%) say they’ve been spending more time doing so post-ban.
•  Parents are also more likely to believe teens have shifted time to other platforms rather than
  reduced their overall screen time. When asked to choose, roughly two-thirds (63%) agree the ban has not decreased teens’ screen time “because they are spending that time on other platforms (such as gaming, video streaming, or messaging),” whereas 37% agree the ban has decreased screen time “because they are spending less time on social media.”

Unrestricted Platforms

• Most teens report spending more time on apps not currently restricted under the ban since December. Nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed (73%) say they’ve spent more time post-ban than they used to on at least one of six such apps — most commonly, Roblox (50%), Pinterest (31%), and Steam (27%).

Use of Social Media Without an Account

Following the ban, Australian teens report widespread and frequent use of YouTube and TikTok without logging into an account. Since the ban started in December:

• YouTube: 92% report using YouTube without logging into an account, including 82% who do so more than once a week.
• TikTok: 76% report using TikTok without logging into an account, including 63% who do so more than once a week.
• Reddit: 55% report using Reddit without logging into an account, including 37% who do so more than once a week.

Australian teens are twice as likely to say the ban has made activities like finding community and following current events harder rather than easier, though many report no change.

As part of the survey, teens were asked whether it has been easier or harder for them to do six activities since the ban started in December, including:

• Finding communities who share their interests, experiences, or identity
• Staying in touch with their friends
• Expressing their personality or creativity
• Sharing their talents (such as music, arts, or sports) with others
• Learning new things about topics or hobbies that interest them
• Staying up-to-date on current events

40-46% of teens say there has been no change in their ability to do each of these activities since the ban started.

• Teens who do perceive an impact, however, are more likely to say these activities have become harder rather than easier: For every activity measured, teens are roughly twice as likely to say it has become harder (36-38%) than easier (16-18%) since December, with the largest gaps observed for finding communities (38% vs. 16%) and staying up-to-date on current events (37% vs. 16%).
• Parents report similar views: When asked about these same six activities, 40-50% of parents perceive no change among teens, while 35-42% believe things have become harder and 15 20% believe they have become easier.
• Compared to the 80% of teens who report continued social media use post-ban, the 20% who don’t are consistently more likely to say it has been harder, rather than easier, for them to access information, connect with others, and express themselves since the ban began. The biggest gaps between non-users vs. users are for:
  • Staying up-to-date on current events (53% harder, vs. 33% among teens who report
    continued use of social media post-ban).
  • Sharing their talents with others (49% vs. 32%).
  • Staying in touch with friends (49% vs. 32%).

Survey Methodology:

Ipsos, on behalf of Center Forward, conducted two individual, nationally representative online surveys in Australia between July 9 and July 24, 2026 — the first among 750 teens aged 13-15 who used social media prior to the implementation of Australia’s social media ban, and the second among 1,000 parents or guardians of at least one teen aged 13-15.

Respondents were recruited through Ipsos’ iSay panel and partner sources and completed the survey in English. Both samples were weighted separately to reflect the Australian population using data from the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing. The teen sample was weighted by teen age, gender, and region, while the parent sample was weighted by parent age, gender, and region.

Ipsos measures the precision of online, opt-in polls using credibility intervals; results among teens have a credibility interval of ±4.4 percentage points, and results among parents have a credibility interval of ±3.8 percentage points. In some cases, results for individual items may not appear to sum to 100%, due to rounding.