Which social media platforms are covered by the Australian ban?
澳大利亚禁令涵盖哪些社交媒体平台？
Ten platforms are currently included: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit and streaming platforms Kick and Twitch.
目前列入名单的十大平台包括：Facebook、Instagram、Snapchat、Threads、TikTok、X、YouTube、Reddit以及流媒体平台Kick和Twitch。
The government assesses potential sites against three main criteria:
政府主要依据三项标准对潜在平台进行评估：
- whether the platform’s sole or “significant purpose” is to enable online social interaction between two or more users;
该平台的唯一或”主要用途”是否为促进两名及以上用户间的在线社交互动； - whether it allows users to interact with some or all other users; and
是否允许用户与部分或全部其他用户进行交互；以及 - whether it allows users to post material
是否允许用户发布内容
YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and WhatsApp are not covered as they are not deemed to meet those criteria.
YouTube Kids、Google Classroom和WhatsApp未被纳入监管范围，因其不符合上述标准。
Under-16s will also still be available to view most content on online platforms which do not require an account.
16岁以下未成年人仍可浏览大部分无需注册账号的在线平台内容。
Critics have called on the government to extend the ban to cover online gaming sites like Roblox and Discord, which are not currently included.
批评人士呼吁政府将禁令范围扩大至目前未涵盖的Roblox、Discord等在线游戏平台。
In November, Roblox said it would introduce age checks on some features.
Roblox已于去年11月宣布将在部分功能中引入年龄验证机制。
How will the Australian ban be enforced?
澳大利亚将如何执行这项禁令？
Children and parents will not be punished for infringing the ban.
儿童及其父母若违反禁令将不会受到处罚。
Instead, social media companies face fines of up to A$49.5m (US$32m, £25m) for serious or repeated breaches.
但社交媒体公司若出现严重或屡次违规行为，将面临最高4950万澳元(合3200万美元/2500万英镑)的罚款。
The government says firms must take “reasonable steps” to keep kids off their platforms, and should use multiple age assurance technologies.
政府要求企业必须采取”合理措施”防止儿童使用其平台，并应采用多性向年龄验证技术。
These could include government IDs, face or voice recognition, or so-called “age inference”, which analyses online behaviour and interactions to estimate a person’s age.
这些技术可能包括政府身份证件认证、面部或语音识别，以及通过分析用户在线行为和互动来推断年龄的所谓”年龄推断”技术。
Platforms cannot rely on users self-certifying or parents vouching for their children.
平台不能仅依赖用户自我认证或家长为孩子担保。
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, began closing teen accounts from 4 December. It said anyone mistakenly kicked off could use government ID or provide a video selfie to prove their age.
Meta旗下拥有Facebook、Instagram和Threads三大平台，于12月4日起开始封禁青少年账户。该公司表示，被误封的用户可通过提交政府签发的身份证件或录制视频自拍来验证年龄。
Snapchat has said users can use bank accounts, photo ID or selfies for verification.
Snapchat则宣布用户可选择银行账户信息、带照片的身份证件或自拍照进行身份验证。
Countries around the world are debating the best way to protect young people from online harm
全球各国正就如何最有效保护青少年免受网络侵害展开激烈辩论
‘It’s insulting they think we can’t handle it’: The Australian teens banned from social media
“他们以为我们应付不来，这太侮辱人了”——被社交媒体拒之门外的澳大利亚青少年
Australia’s social media ban for children has left big tech scrambling
澳大利亚针对儿童的社交媒体禁令让科技巨头们措手不及
Will the Australian social media ban work?
澳大利亚社交媒体禁令会奏效吗？
Some fear that age assurance technologies may wrongly block adults while failing to spot underage users.
有人担心，年龄验证技术可能误将成年人拒之门外，却无法识别未成年用户。
The government’s own report found that facial assessment technology is least reliable for teenagers.
政府内部报告发现，面部识别技术对青少年的识别准确率最低。
Questions have also been raised about the scale of the potential fines.
外界对潜在罚款的规模也提出了质疑。
“It takes Meta about an hour and 52 minutes to make A$50 million in revenue,” former Facebook executive Stephen Scheeler told the AAP news agency.
Meta公司前高管斯蒂芬·希勒向澳联社表示：”Meta只需1小时52分钟就能创造5000万澳元收入。”
Critics also argue that the limited scope of the ban – even if properly implemented – undermines its ability to protect children.
批评人士还指出，即使该禁令得到妥善实施，其受限范围也削弱了保护青少年的能力。
Dating websites are excluded along with gaming platforms, as are AI chatbots, which have recently made headlines for allegedly encouraging children to kill themselves and for having “sensual” conversations with minors.
交友网站与游戏平台同样被排除在禁令之外，曾因涉嫌煽动青少年自杀及与未成年人进行”性暗示对话”登上头条的AI聊天机器人也未纳入监管。
Others argue that educating children about how to navigate social media would be more effective.
另有观点认为，教育青少年如何正确使用社交媒体将更为有效。
Some teens told the BBC they would set up fake profiles ahead of the deadline – although the government has warned social media companies to identify and remove such accounts. Others have switched to joint accounts with their parents.
部分青少年向BBC透露，他们计划在截止日期前创建虚假个人资料——尽管政府已警告社交媒体公司需识别并删除此类账户。另一些青少年则转而使用与父母共享的联合账户。
Commentators also predict a surge in the use of VPNs – which hide a user’s location – as happened in the UK after the implementation of age control rules there.
评论人士还预测，VPN（可隐藏用户地理位置）的使用量将激增——正如英国实施年龄控制规则后出现的情况。
Communications Minister Annika Wells conceded that the ban may not be “perfect”.
通信部长安妮卡·韦尔斯承认该禁令可能不够”完美”。
“It’s going to look a bit untidy on the way through,” she said in early November. “Big reforms always do.”
她在11月初表示：”实施过程中可能会出现一些混乱，重大改革总是如此。”
What about data protection?
数据保护问题如何解决？
Critics have also raised concerns about the large-scale collection and storage of data required to verify users’ ages.
批评者还对验证用户年龄所需的大规模数据收集与存储表示担忧。
Australia – like much of the world – has had a series of high-profile data breaches where sensitive personal information was stolen and published or sold.
澳大利亚——与全球许多地区类似——接连发生了一系列备受关注的数据泄露事件，敏感个人信息遭窃取后被公开或出售。
But the government insists the legislation incorporates “strong protections” for personal data.
但政府坚称该法案为个人数据提供了”强力保护”。
These stipulate that it may only be used for age verification and must be subsequently destroyed, with “serious penalties” for breaches.
条款规定这些数据仅能用于年龄验证且事后必须销毁，违规者将面临”严厉处罚”。
How have social media companies responded?
社交媒体公司作何反应？
Social media companies were aghast when the ban was announced in November 2024.
2024年11月禁令公布时，社交媒体企业一片哗然。
Firms argued it would be difficult to implement, easy to circumvent and time consuming for users, and would pose risks to their privacy.
企业声称该禁令实施困难、容易规避、增加用户操作耗时，还将带来隐私风险。
Companies also suggested it might drive children into dark corners of the internet and deprive young people of social contact.
企业还警告称，此举可能驱使儿童接触网络阴暗内容，并剥夺青少年的社交机会。
Snap – which owns Snapchat – and YouTube also denied being social media companies.
Snap（Snapchat母公司）和YouTube也否认自己是社交媒体公司。
Days before the ban was due to take effect, YouTube said the “rushed” new laws would leave children less safe as they will still be able to use the platform without an account, removing “the very parental controls and safety filters built to protect them”.
在禁令生效前几天，YouTube曾表示这项”仓促出台”的新法律将使儿童面临更大风险，因为无账户用户仍可使用该平台，这相当于移除了”专门为保护儿童设立的家长控制与安全过滤功能”。
YouTube’s parent company, Google, was reportedly considering a legal challenge over its inclusion but did not respond to a BBC request for comment.
据报道，YouTube母公司Google曾考虑就其被纳入禁令提起法律诉讼，但未回应BBC的置评请求。
尽管被列入禁令范围，YouTube否认自身是社交媒体公司
Despite its early implementation, Meta warned the ban would leave teens with “inconsistent protections across the many apps they use”.
Meta警告称，虽然该禁令已提前实施，但将导致青少年”在使用众多应用程序时面临不一致的保护措施”。
At parliamentary hearings in October 2025, TikTok and Snap said they opposed the ban but would follow it.
在2025年10月的议会听证会上，TikTok和Snap表示反对该禁令但会遵守执行。
Kick – the only Australian company covered by the new law – said it would introduce a “range of measures” as it continued to engage “constructively” with authorities.
作为唯一受新法规约束的澳大利亚企业，Kick公司表示将在”建设性”配合监管部门的同时推行”系列措施”。
A day ahead of the ban Reddit said it would comply but that it had “deep concerns” about the law which “undermines everyone’s right to free expression and privacy”.
禁令生效前夕，Reddit表态将遵守法规，但对该法律”严重关切”，认为其”损害了所有人的言论自由与隐私权”。
How do other countries regulate social media for young people?
其他国家如何监管青少年使用社交媒体？
Denmark has announced plans to ban social media for under-15s, while Norway is considering a similar proposal.
丹麦已宣布计划禁止15岁以下未成年人使用社交媒体，挪威也在考虑类似提案。
A French parliamentary enquiry has also recommended banning under-15s from social media, and a social media “curfew” for 15- to 18-year-olds.
法国议会调查委员会还建议禁止15岁以下青少年使用社交媒体，并对15至18岁用户实施社交媒体”宵禁”。
The Spanish government has drafted a law which would require legal guardians to authorise access for under-16s.
西班牙政府起草新法案，要求未成年人监护人必须为16岁以下子女开通网络权限授权
In the UK, new safety rules introduced in July 2025 mean online companies face large fines or even the jailing of their executives if they fail to implement measures to protect young people from seeing illegal and harmful content.
英国自2025年7月起实施新网络安全法规，若网络公司未采取有效措施防止青少年接触非法及有害内容，将面临高额罚款甚至高管监禁
Meanwhile, an attempt in the US state of Utah to ban under-18s from social media without parental consent was blocked by a federal judge in 2024.
美国犹他州此前试图立法禁止18岁以下青少年在未经家长同意情况下使用社交媒体，但该法案于2024年被联邦法官否决