When Australia introduced the world's first nationwide ban on social media for children under 16, it was hailed as a bold attempt to protect young people from cyberbullying, harmful content and the addictive pull of algorithms.
Six months later, however, the question many parents are asking is simple: Is it actually working?
As reported by The Japan Times, many Australian teenagers are still accessing social media despite the restrictions.
Some are using fake birthdays, while others are finding ways around age verification systems, underscoring just how difficult it is to police platforms built on self-declared identities.
For years, many parents struggled to delay social media because of one persistent argument:"Everyone else has it."
The legislation has changed that dynamic. Instead of parents feeling pressured to give in, the law has provided a socially accepted reason to say"not yet."
Conversations about when children should get smartphones, create their first social media account or spend more time online are becoming easier to have because the decision is no longer left solely to individual families.
That shift may prove just as significant as the ban itself.
Experts have long argued that no amount of legislation can replace parental guidance.
While governments can introduce safeguards, they cannot teach children how to navigate cyberbullying, misinformation, unrealistic beauty standards or the pressure to seek validation online.
Ultimately, those lessons happen at home.
Australia's experiment has also become a closely watched case study for other countries considering similar restrictions.
The challenge it highlights is clear: technology often moves faster than regulation, and determined teenagers will almost always find loopholes.
Yet perhaps the bigger takeaway isn't whether the ban has eliminated underage social media use.
It's whether it has empowered parents to set healthier digital boundaries.
Because while children may still find ways to log on, Australia's controversial law may have succeeded in something equally important: reminding families that the conversation about social media shouldn't begin with an app, but with the people sitting around the dinner table.