Our Position on the Under-16s Social Media Ban and the industry codes
On International Human Rights Day (10th December, 2025), the Australian social media ban comes into effect, limiting young people’s access to social media platforms and, in doing so, eroding their rights to information and expression. From the 27th of December, the industry codes will also come into effect further limiting access to sexual information and expression.
Bloom-ED asserts that access to sexual health content is crucial for young people’s sexual and human rights. Teens routinely turn to online sources to learn about sex and relationships, both to fill gaps in the information they may receive at home or school, and to access additional nuance and expertise.
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The Australian Government itself has previously recognised the power of social media to teach about sex, relationships and consent. In late 2023, in response to the roadmap for age verification, the Australian Government acknowledged the value of disseminating educational messaging about sex and relationships to teens via social media, committing over $104 million to support youth education initiatives. This included campaigns such as Our Watch: The Line, targeted at teens aged 14 and above, and Teach Us Consent (Australian Government, 2023), which engaged a broad youth audience. However, this investment in social media-based education was soon followed by a government-imposed ban on social media platforms for individuals under 16. This policy shift directly contradicts earlier financial commitments that use and acknowledge social media as an important tool for educating teens about sex, relationships, and consent. Such inconsistencies fail to account for the reality that many teens turn to social media, online sources, and even pornography, as supplementary sources of relationships and sexuality education, filling gaps left by schools and families.
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While Bloom-ED acknowledges the work to increase safety, we are very concerned about the restrictions of the social media ban and forthcoming Online Safety Codes and Standards, which could severely prohibit access to sexual health information online for young people. Such movements pose several privacy and security issues and override young people’s rights, including their sexual rights.​
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Today, on International Human Rights Day (10th December 2025), we launched a campaign to rally for young people’s rights to information. We advocate for more comprehensive relationships and sexuality education to bolster the information and opportunities online being taken away from young people. This would include support and training for educators, parents, and filling the gaps with innovative sources. We also advocate for including digital sexual literacy, as we believe the Act and Codes are a misguided effort that will not enhance young people’s right to sexual safety but will instead reduce it.
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If you would like to be part of this campaign and be a co-signatory to the above, please email us back with your name and organisational logo to team@bloom-ed.org