How do current age verification methods fail under-16s?

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Current age verification methods often fail because under-16 users can bypass them through self-declaration or selfies that platforms accept as over-16, without being asked to prove age.

Australia has pointed to evidence that age-assurance steps used by social media companies are easy for children to circumvent. In many cases, under-16 users are not required to prove their age, and two-thirds of underage users have managed to stay online by either self-declaring they are over 16 or posting a selfie that the platform accepts as over 16. A British Medical Journal study that examined 408 adolescents also reported that 85 per cent of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban took effect, indicating that the mechanisms in place did not prevent continued access.
Self-declaration and accepted selfies let underage users stay on platforms
Age assurance mechanisms such as submitting a selfie can be bypassed by children, and the key failure mode is that platforms may accept those inputs as meeting the over-16 threshold. The reported pattern was that two-thirds of underage users stayed online by self-declaring an age over 16 or by posting a selfie the platform accepted as over 16. This means the verification step is not reliably stopping accounts that should be blocked or restricted.
Many under-16 users were never asked to prove their age
In numerous cases, children have not been asked to provide proof of their age when creating or maintaining accounts. That gap matters because it allows self-declared information to stand without being tested. As a result, age checks may be limited to what a user claims or uploads, rather than requiring evidence that can reliably confirm age.
Platforms’ deployment of available age-check tools is described as weak
An industry body representing tech suppliers attributed enforcement problems to social media platforms’ weak deployment of tools available to run age checks, rather than to inherent limits of the technology itself. This framing suggests that even where tools exist for age checking, they may not be implemented in a way that prevents under-16 access. The government also said it is strengthening the eSafety Commissioner’s powers to compel platforms to provide evidence of what they have done to stop under-16s from getting accounts.
Continued teen use after the ban points to verification shortcomings
The British Medical Journal study, which looked at 408 adolescents, found that 85 per cent of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban took effect. The same reporting highlighted that underage users could remain active through self-declaration or selfies accepted as over-16. Together, these figures indicate that existing age assurance methods are not stopping under-16s from using platforms at scale.

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How do current age verification methods fail under-16s?

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