While governments around the world continue to tackle the thorny issue of age verification for certain websites and platforms, Australia is taking a blunter approach. Starting today, the entire country will ban social media sites for all children younger than 16 years old.

The age-restricted apps include TikTok , Facebook, Instagram , Threads, X, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, Kick and Twitch. Younger teenagers will still have access to the popular gaming platform Discord, Messenger Kids, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom and YouTube Kids. The ban also doesn't include AI chatbots such as ChatGPT , OpenAI's Sora or Google Gemini .

Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google sourc

See Full Page