Since December, Australia’s under-16s social media ban has marked a major shift in the national conversation around online safety, platform accountability, and the digital lives of young people.
While the ban aims to reduce risk and protect children online, new Pureprofile research suggests an important challenge remains:
Parents may not fully understand what children are doing online in the first place.
Our 2025 research, conducted before the ban took effect, highlights a growing disconnect between what parents believe their children are accessing and how children report engaging with social platforms, messaging features, and online content.
As restrictions come into effect, this awareness gap becomes increasingly important – because if risky behaviour continues through workarounds or alternative platforms, it may simply move further out of view.
Parents don’t always know what kids can access
Perhaps most telling is the level of uncertainty parents themselves report.
Over 1 in 3 parents (38%) of children aged 8–12 admit they don’t know what their child can access online.
This points to a broader issue: the speed at which platforms evolve, combined with the rise of private messaging and algorithm-driven content, can make parental oversight increasingly difficult.
The infographic below represents key findings from our research:
Based on a nationally representative Pureprofile survey of 1,011 people in the UK and 1,009 in the US, September 2025.
