AUSTRALIA - Children Bypass Age Limit on Social Media
Children in Australia are able to easily bypass the minimum age limit imposed by social media platforms, a report by the country’s online safety regulator showed, ahead of a landmark ban by the government on access for those under 16.
The watchdog’s report found 80% of Australian children aged eight to 12 used social media in 2024, with YouTube, ByteDance’s TikTok, Meta’s Instagram and Snapchat being the most popular services.
“There is still significant work to be done by any social media platforms relying on truthful self-declaration to determine age with enforcement of the government’s minimum age legislation on the horizon,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.
YouTube, which is set to be exempted from the upcoming ban, is the only service that allows under-13 usage when attached to a family account with parental supervision. Still, none of the eight to 12-year olds who had accounts reported shutdowns due to being underage.
Ninety five percent of teens under 16 used at least one of the eight services surveyed, the report said.
-www.reuters.com, 19 February 2025
Commentary
Although one may applaud Australia’s upcoming attempt to ban children’s access to often harmful social media content, this article proves that such may be nearly impossible, considering the ingenuity of today’s youth in bypassing any such restrictions.
The last sentence quoted from the article is telling: “Ninety five percent of teens under 16 used at least one of the eight services surveyed.” This reveals how much grasp modern technology has on society, with the young being the most targeted group.
It is easy to see how in the end times, the false prophet will be able to deceive the entire world with an instrument of technology: “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth … that they should make an image to the beast … And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:14-15).
With the advancement of AI, and cell phones being a key vehicle for such, 95% is not too far from 100%, which will be the reality when “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [Antichrist]” (verse 8a). -By K. Farmer
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
