Despite its efforts to be classified as a messaging app, instead of a social platform, in order to avoid the coming social media age restrictions in Australia, Snapchat has now accepted that it will be required to abide by the new laws, which will come into effect on December 10th.
And like Meta, it’s now informing users under 16 that they’ll lose access to their profiles as of that date.
As explained by Snap:
“From December 10, 2025, all users in Australia under 16 years of age will have their accounts locked. If you are under 16, you will not be able to maintain or create a Snapchat account. If you have an existing Snapchat account, we encourage you to download your data as soon as possible.”
Snap says that users will have three years to reactivate their account, and if you turn 16 within that period, you’ll be able to return to your profile and use the app again. Otherwise, your information will be lost.
“We also suggest you cancel any subscriptions to Snapchat+ or Memories+.”
In addition to this, Snapchat is also rolling out new age checks for Australian users in-stream, which will include three verification options:
- ConnectID (bank-verified) - You can verify your age through a connection with your Australian bank account.
- Photo ID - You can scan your government-issued identification card and our third-party service provider, k-ID, will scan and validate your ID document and age. The documents you submit will only be used to verify your age. These documents include passport, driver's licence or any other state-issued ID.
- Facial Age Estimation - You can take a selfie and k-ID will estimate an age range.
Snap says that it will not receive users’ facial scans, bank account details, or any other personal information that they provide during the age verification process.
So teens will have a couple of options to avoid a ban, and it’ll be interesting to see how this cohort of users, in particular, responds to the new restrictions, given that Snapchat, and other social media apps, already play a vital connective role in their lives.
Really, the whole world will be watching to see how Australia’s roll out of increased social media age restrictions will actually work, with many other regions considering similar moves to up the age of social media access.
Currently, all of the main social media platforms require users to be 14 to hold an account, but this new law will implement more stringent rules, as well as financial penalties, to ensure that platforms implement stronger measures to ensure that they keep young users out of their apps.
Of course, the effectiveness of such process is debatable, with most age detection measures able to be side-stepped through various processes. Indeed, I’m based in Australia, and I have a 15-year-old son, and he and his friends have expressed no concerns at their ability to get around these measures once they’re implemented.
The reality, then, will come down to just how good these improved checking processes are at ensuring young teens are locked out, and that they can’t lie about their age.
Though I maintain that the legal standing here is too vague to be truly effective, with the Australian law stating that social platforms need to “take reasonable steps” to restrict teens under the age of 16 from accessing their apps. Which leaves too much gray area, and will likely make it difficult for Australian authorities to prosecute any platform for failing to abide by the rules.
But we’ll see what happens, with apps now alerting young users that the restrictions are coming, just in time for the local school holidays.
Snapchat says that it’s a mistake, and will only push kids to more dangerous elements of the web.
We’ll find out in a couple of weeks.
