Why More Countries Need to Follow Australia’s Example on Social Media

In case you missed it, this past December, Australia made history in a way we’re genuinely enthusiastic about. For the first time anywhere in the world, a nation set a real, enforceable age limit for social media: no accounts for anyone under 16. That means platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Threads, and others must verify age and deactivate underage accounts or face significant fines. Australian officials have said that nearly five million accounts were deleted when the ban went into effect.

This isn’t about killing the smartphone or policing how parents raise their kids. It’s about child safety, mental health, and acknowledging the damage we already know social media is causing. In a world where platform algorithms and addictive design compete for every moment of our attention, Australia’s decision says something important: childhood and adolescent development matter more than our addiction to likes and endless scrolling. Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation helped bring this reality into the spotlight in a way the world can no longer ignore.

Encouragingly, Australia isn’t alone. Other countries are paying close attention and preparing to follow suit as longer-term data emerges and the effectiveness of these safeguards becomes clearer. Some of those countries include:

• France, which is preparing legislation to ban social media for those under 15, clearly taking cues from Australia’s approach.

• Denmark, which is exploring a similar under-15 ban, with limited allowances with parental consent.

• Malaysia, which has announced plans to implement its own under-16 social media ban beginning in 2026.

Beyond these examples, many other countries, along with several U.S. states, have introduced legislation currently moving through their legal systems. Taken together, these efforts point to a broader shift in how governments are beginning to approach the digital landscape, particularly when it comes to the well-being of young people. This is good news!

We built TWELVE because the existing digital spaces available to churches and ministries simply weren’t healthy places for discipleship to happen. They weren’t designed for connection, formation, or trust. They were designed for attention, engagement, and endless consumption. If every teen around the world threw out their phone tomorrow because they wanted more time in person at church connecting with the word, we would be more than happy to shut down. Until that day comes, we’re going to remain firmly seated as the safest and most effective tool for digital discipleship while encouraging you, as parents, youth workers, and pastors, to consider your engagement and influence around adolescents and traditional social media.

Australia’s decision signals a growing willingness to name a hard truth: not every digital space is good or even neutral, and not every platform is meant for young people. As more countries begin to follow suit, we have an opportunity to rethink not just where adolescents spend their time online, but why. For churches and ministries, this moment invites deeper reflection on how we extend discipleship beyond in-person gatherings without outsourcing formation to systems built for profit over people. The question isn’t whether digital discipleship should exist; it’s whether we’re willing to ensure it happens in spaces designed for connection, care, and long-term flourishing.