When 15-year-old Carlee Jade Clements wakes up, her first thought is to record a Get Ready With Me video to share with her friends on TikTok. “I love recording everything and posting it the moment I have it,” says Clements, who lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Like many teenagers, Clements communicates with the world primarily through social media: Snapchat for messaging her friends, Pinterest for inspiration, TikTok for … well, everything. Unlike many teenagers, she also uses social media professionally; Clements has over 37,000 followers on Instagram, where she often posts product reviews (skin care, slime) and photos from her modeling and acting gigs.
But as of December 10, 2025, that will change. That’s when Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age regulation will go into effect, which will prevent Australians under 16 years old from having social media accounts. “It’s gonna be very weird and quiet and isolated,” says Clements. “I’m going to feel like I’m cut off from the world.”
Globally, people are starting to realize how social media can negatively impact adolescents. Even teenagers themselves are seeing this: Almost half of adolescents in the US claim these platforms harm people their age. Australia is the first country to take serious action. In December 2024, legislators passed the Social Media Minimum Age Bill, which will penalize tech platforms (including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, and Reddit) that allow under-16s to access their platforms.
In response, platforms are locking accounts and adopting age verification requirements. Some platforms, including Meta, started to enforce it early.
Teen content creators are taking steps, too. Zoey Bender, age 14, likes to post GRWM videos and tips: for making friends in high school, for starting seventh grade, for dealing with braces. “I love being creative about it,” says Bender, who has 58,000 followers on TikTok. “It’s my outlet.”
Her handle used to be @heyitszoey. In November, she and her dad, Mark, changed it to @_heyitszoeyandmark, with the hopes that her account won’t be deleted on December 10 because it’s now managed by an adult. She says that many other teenagers with large followings are doing the same; Clements’ mom already manages her Instagram account.
That means that once the age restrictions are in place, their professional accounts will likely still exist—although as teen and kid accounts are suspended, their engagement will likely go down, and they may lose followers, too. That would mean a decline in free products and in revenue, though it’s generally not a huge amount: Ava Jones, 12, who has 11,500 followers on Instagram, estimates that she makes $1,000-$2,000 Australian ($600-$1,300 US) per year, which she generally spends on makeup and clothes. “If that went away, I’d have to do more chores at home,” she says.
