A month after Australia banned under-16s from using social media platforms, some teens are happy to be free from distractions, while others have found ways to get around the law.

The Online Safety Amendment Act requires major social media platforms such as: meta Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok, of the alphabet YouTube, Elon Musk’s X, and Reddit will implement age verification methods such as facial estimation through selfies, uploaded IDs, or linked bank account information.

Technology companies, not parents or teens, face the consequences of any breach. This includes fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for failing to take “reasonable steps” to comply.

The Australian government has said it will protect teenagers from the mental health harms it says are caused by social media, including addictive algorithmic designs and decreased sleep and increased stress.

Opponents of the ban argued that it would be ineffective.

Here are the top three takeaways on how the ban is progressing a month later.

Amy, 14, who has been keeping a diary since Prohibition began, said: Recent BBC coverage He said he feels “free” from the pressure of maintaining a presence on Snapchat, one of the platforms affected.

“I used to call my friends on Snapchat after school, but I couldn’t do that anymore, so I went for a run,” Amy wrote in her diary.

Downloads of some unaffected apps, including ByteDance-owned Lemon8, Yope and Discord, soared in the days after the law went into effect, the BBC reported.

Downloads of VPNs, which hide a user’s location to circumvent country-specific restrictions, increased before the ban. Downloads are now back to normal and social media platforms are expected to detect VPNs as part of the law.

But the Australian government has noticed. According to , Lemon8 subsequently determined on its own that it should be included in the age restriction and complied with the age restriction requirements. western australia. The Australian government also asked Mr Yopu to self-assess whether he should do so.

Mehta said in January: Block over 500,000 accounts for people under 16 years old However, he added that age verification needs to be extended to the app store as well. The group said teenagers use more than 40 apps a week, many of which are not covered by the ban, and argued that this means they could still be exposed to harmful content.

The tech giant had previously warned that the ban would cut off teens from their friends and communities.

Another banned platform, Reddit, takes it even further by Legal challenge against the Australian governmentsaid the ban is inefficient and limits young people’s freedom of speech.

Reddit previously said in a statement to CNBC that the law could isolate teens from opportunities to participate in “age-appropriate community experiences, including political discussion.”

“Children’s political views not only influence the electoral choices of many current voters, including their parents and teachers, but also others who are interested in the views of children who will soon reach adulthood,” Reddit added.

There is of particular interest among British politicians. Prime Minister Keir Starmer On Monday, he told MPs he was concerned about children’s screen time and called for an Australian-style ban.

There is also interest in the US fox news poll Of more than 1,000 registered voters, 64% of respondents supported banning social media for teenagers and banning cell phones in K-12 classrooms. Two-thirds of parents also supported the ban, while 36% opposed it.