Hi everyone, Francis here.
If you live in Australia, you probably know that from 10 December 2025, kids under 16 aren’t supposed to be on social media apps like Snapchat anymore. The government’s new rule says platforms have to take “reasonable steps” to stop kids our age from using their apps.
So I wanted to write about what actually happened on Snapchat in the days leading up to the ban, because honestly, it was nothing like what we expected.
The email from Snapchat
About a week before the ban, I got an email from Snapchat to my Gmail account. It basically said:
“You need to verify your age before 10 December or you may lose access to Snapchat.”
<insert screenshot of the email>That sounded serious, so my dad and I clicked the link in the email to see what the age verification process looked like. We were expecting something like a face scan or ID check.
But instead…
- The link just took me back to the Snapchat home page.
- No age-verification screen.
- No pop-up.
- Nothing.
We checked everywhere inside my account. Still nothing.
Dad and I just looked at each other like:
“Um… that’s weird.”
If this was step one of age verification, it didn’t work at all.
The in-app notifications
After the email, Snapchat kept showing me notifications saying something like:
“You need to verify your age before 10 December.”
<insert screenshot of notification>But every time, there was a button that said Not now, and I could just tap that instead. Nothing stopped me from using the app.
What my friends were doing
I started asking everyone at school how their age verification was going. Here’s what they told me:
- One friend used his dad’s face to pass the age check.
- Another friend said he might ask an adult to do the face scan for him.
- Another wasn’t sure what to do at all.
- Most of my friends didn’t even get a working verification screen like I didn’t.
So basically, everyone was confused.
Our backup plan
We all agreed that if we got kicked off Snapchat on 10 December, we’d use iMessage to stay in touch.
But honestly, none of us really wanted to. Even me.
Dad asked why I didn’t want to use iMessage, and I didn’t have a great answer. I guess it’s just… not Snapchat.
I don’t think kids dislike iMessage because it’s boring. It’s more like Snapchat is where our friends already are. The streaks, the filters, the icons, the group chat vibe… that’s where everything happens.
So the whole group was hoping Snapchat wouldn’t actually lock us out.
The morning of 10 December
When I woke up, the first thing I did was check my phone. I expected some giant message saying:
“You’re under 16. Your account has been deactivated.”
But nothing happened.
Snapchat opened normally. Everyone was still there. All my friends still had their accounts, except one kid in our year level who got locked out.
One out of dozens.
I messaged my friends on iMessage to double-check whether they still had access, and yep… everyone except that one friend could still open Snap like usual.
Will Snapchat get in trouble?
I asked Dad if Snapchat could get fined for not removing kids.
He said the law doesn’t say they must remove every single kid; it says they must take “reasonable steps” to stop under-16s from using the platform.
The biggest fine mentioned in the law is A$49.5 million, but that’s for the most serious failures to comply. It doesn’t mean Snapchat gets fined automatically because a kid still has an account.
So I looked up the exact wording myself, and Dad was right. The rule isn’t “all kids must be kicked off.” It’s “platforms have to try hard enough.”
What this means for kids
From my perspective, here’s what actually happened:
- The age-verification email didn’t work.
- The in-app prompts were easy to skip.
- Kids were sharing workarounds with each other.
- Only a tiny number of accounts were deactivated on Day 1.
- Most kids are still on Snapchat as of today.
So the question is: will age verification get stricter over the next few weeks? Or is this how platforms will handle it long-term?
No one knows yet. Not even the adults.
Final thought
I get why the government wants kids to be safer online. But based on what happened this week, age verification is not as simple as “scan your face” or “prove your age.” Kids my age use these apps every day, and the rules don’t always match what actually happens on our phones.
No matter what happens next, we’ll still want to stay connected with our friends. Whether it’s Snapchat, iMessage, or something new, staying safe online is still the most important part.
If you want to understand how kids are navigating this stuff, check out the Smart Alerts on Joey and the How’s My Child report. They help parents stay aware without jumping straight to surveillance or bans.
