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Learning English from the News

Upper intermediate level

Australia teen social media ban

Episode 251217 / 17 Dec 2025

(Image: Getty Images)

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The story

Children under the age of 16 in Australia are no longer allowed to have social media accounts – by law.

The ban includes TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Threads.

The Australian government says the ban will reduce the negative impact of features that encourage children to spend time on screens, potentially being exposed to harmful content.

Critics of the ban say that children will not get the social contact they need and might be tempted to search in darker parts of the internet.

News headlines

Australia’s social media ban comes into force
The Observer

Here are the platforms that will be included in the under-16s social media ban. But there's a caveat
9News

Australia leader defends social media ban as teens brag about staying online
BusinessWorld

Key words and phrases

come into force
a new rule or policy starts to be used

  • People's heath has improved since the smoking ban came into force.

caveat
warning about the limits of a situation

  • It’s a work trip so they’ll pay for my flight, but the caveat is that it has to be the cheapest one, so it's a really early start.

brag
speak with too much pride about something you have or have achieved

  • If you brag too much about coming top of the class, people might stop liking you.

Next 

Hear about the original plans for this social media ban: Australia plans kids' social media ban

Learn English from a BBC News documentary: Love in a war zone

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