Australia’s social media ban, which will come into effect on December 10, 2025, aims to restrict access to social media platforms for children under the age of 16, protecting them from the dangers of social media, including cyberbullying and online harassment.
While the measure impacts a vast majority of the most popular platforms – including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube – the list, at the time of writing, does not include Discord.
However, given that Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has clarified that the list is a dynamic one and could see further additions down the line, speculation is rife about whether Discord could join the pack. This has led to a spike in interest in the best VPNs to potentially circumvent potentila age verification on the platform.
In this article, we’ll give you a detailed overview of Australia’s world-first social media ban, what platforms are currently mandated to enforce age restrictions, and which ones could be next.
What is Australia's social media ban?
Australia's social media ban is the first of its kind in the world. It mandates social media platforms to verify their users’ ages and deactivate accounts belonging to anyone under 16.
According to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, these platforms must take "reasonable steps," which essentially includes identifying users under 16 through various age verification measures and then deactivating those accounts. If they fail to abide by this law, they can face a fine of up to AU$49.5 million (US$32.8 million). The banned apps include:
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- X (Twitter)
- YouTube
- Twitch
- Kick
- Threads
These platforms will, by and large, give under-16s two options. The first is to temporarily deactivate their account and then re-access it once they turn 16, with none of their content being deleted. The second is to completely delete their account. In either case, teens will have the option to download all of their photos, videos, and messages before choosing whether to deactivate or delete.
As for how platforms will verify users’ ages, the eSafety Commissioner has left that up to the companies themselves. It has clarified that it "does not expect a platform to make every account holder go through an age check process."
Some platforms, like YouTube, have provided some clarity, saying they will verify a flagged user’s age based on the age listed in their Google account and other signals, which likely include account activity and behavioral metrics – which is also what Snapchat plans to use.
Meta, on the other hand, has decided not to disclose exactly how it plans to determine which users are under 16, citing concerns that revealing its methods would make it easier for teens to bypass the ban.
It’s important to note that the social media accounts of under-16s won’t simply vanish overnight come December 10. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant clarified that they understand the technical complexities involved in implementing such a regulation and are therefore fully on board with giving platforms some time to roll out the changes.
Inman Grant explained: "We’ll be watching closely, but I also want to set expectations that we will take a graduated risk and outcomes-based approach to compliance and enforcement, focusing on platforms with the highest proportion of underage users."
Is Australia banning Discord?
Discord, as well as platforms like WhatsApp, Roblox, Pinterest, GitHub, Messenger, and LinkedIn, are for now exempt from Australia’s social media ban.
However, the government has kept things open-ended, stating that the current list of banned apps is dynamic and could eventually include any of these exempted platforms, which, at the time of writing, are in the grey area. That applies perfectly to Discord, which borders the line between gaming, communication, and social media.
While it is primarily used for creating support groups for software, games, and online services, or for collaborating on projects, it does include several social media-like features, including text/voice/video messaging, the ability to create public servers, interact with new people, and share media or other content.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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