📊 poll results
Australia's under-16 social media ban: keep pushing, or admit it's not working?
🗳️ 12 votes so far 🏆 Leading: Scrap it. A ban that teens dodge in five minutes with a fake birthdate or a big sibling's login doesn't stop anything — it just teaches kids to lie to platforms and gives parents a false sense that the problem is handled.

Of 12 votes cast so far, Scrap it. A ban that teens dodge in five minutes with a fake birthdate or a big sibling's login doesn't stop anything — it just teaches kids to lie to platforms and gives parents a false sense that the problem is handled. leads with 42%.

Keep it and close the gaps. Fake birthdates only work because verification is weak — bring in real ID or biometric age checks and make platforms actually liable when they fail, even if that means less privacy for everyone. is second on 33%, 9 points behind.

Votes have come in from 2 countries, most of them from China.

The most recent vote came in 2 days ago.

hewsay who say wut? 💬
📊 poll results
Australia's under-16 social media ban: keep pushing, or admit it's not working?
42%
Leading answer
Scrap it. A ban that teens dodge in five minutes with a fake birthdate or a big sibling's login doesn't stop anything — it just teaches kids to lie to platforms and gives parents a false sense that the problem is handled.
12 votes so far
hewsay.com ↗

Discussion

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react to this tea 👀
Keep it and close the gaps. Fake birthdates only work because verification is weak — bring in real ID or biometric age checks and make platforms actually liable when they fail, even if that means less privacy for everyone.
Scrap it. A ban that teens dodge in five minutes with a fake birthdate or a big sibling's login doesn't stop anything — it just teaches kids to lie to platforms and gives parents a false sense that the problem is handled.
Call it a win already. Even a partial drop in under-16 usage is a real public-health outcome, and no law is ever 100% dodge-proof on day one — perfect enforcement was never the bar.
Wrong target entirely. Age gates fight a losing battle against motivated teenagers — regulate the addictive algorithms, infinite scroll, and push notifications instead, so the platform is less harmful whether a kid is 14 or 40.
Too early to judge. Eight months isn't enough time to know if this sticks — check back in two or three years once the novelty of dodging it wears off and see if usage among under-16s is actually lower.