As platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube prepare for new age restrictions, some teen entrepreneurs fear social media rules designed to protect young Australians could ultimately harm businesses like their own.
From December 10, federal legislation will restrict those aged 16 and under from creating or holding accounts on major social media apps and websites.
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The measure — intended to shield young people from extensive screen-time and concerning algorithms, while protecting the mental health and wellbeing of adolescent users — has widespread public support and bipartisan backing in Canberra.
While acknowledging the risks posed by social media, many teens subject to the incoming restrictions are less impressed with the ban, and plan to work around age verification tools to maintain access.
For a smaller subset of young Australians, the ban will not only affect how they interact with friends online, but also the way their business operates.
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Teen business owners share concerns
Jay Cooper is the 16-year-old founder of Air Gaming, an online retailer of mousepads specially designed for computer gamers.
“I run the whole thing by myself,” Cooper told SmartCompany. “From supplies to packing the orders, I do pretty much everything.”
The business primarily reaches customers through social media, with Cooper showing off his wares in snappy TikTok videos to an audience of nearly 34,000 followers.
Now, the sole trader says incoming social media restrictions could sever the brand from its core audience — teens just like himself.
Since launching from his Melbourne home at age 13, Cooper says the business has sold 5,000 mousepads.
A recent survey revealed 44% of Air Gaming’s customers are themselves under the age of 16, most of whom learn of Air Gaming through its organic social media reach.
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“It’s completely free of charge to do it,” said Cooper.
“It doesn’t even cost $1, and you can reach millions of people just at the click of a button.”
Cooper fears the social media restrictions would make it far harder to reach those young customers, particularly ahead of the all-important Christmas rush.
“A social media ban would destroy my business,” he said.
Visitors barred from interaction
Under the new rules, young people will still be able to view social media content without actually creating an account.
Even so, many social media platforms only permit account-holders to comment or interact with other users, making it harder for brands to connect with viewers.
“I think with my social media account, especially on TikTok, it’s almost like a tight-knit community,” said Cooper.
“You have the same people commenting on each post, and it’s sort of like everyone gets to know each other, so I feel like you lose that community sort of aspect with not being able to have accounts.”
“The intentions behind the ban, I agree, it’s a good idea,” Cooper continued.
“But I just don’t think that businesses have been considered in the ban, as not too much has been said about it at all.”
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Other young entrepreneurs, who don’t want to wait for graduation to launch their own business, have shared similar thoughts online.
In TikTok videos seen by SmartCompany, a 14-year-old documenting his efforts to build a software startup, said, “social media is actually where most of us can connect, learn, and build communities.
“For me, it’s literally where I’m building my business… I’m all for keeping kids safe online, I just think that banning social media just misses the point.”
Founder calls for further education
Teens are not the only ones questioning how the restrictions will affect young Australians aspiring to launch and grow a business.
Jeanette Cheah is the founder of HEX, an education startup offering courses on entrepreneurship to high schoolers and university students.
Responsible social media usage is part of some HEX courses, which teach students how to conduct ‘desktop’ market research by visiting platforms like Facebook and Reddit.
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“I think that there’s a real interesting tension there between protection and education and preparation,” Cheah told SmartCompany.
“I mean, we certainly work with young people across Australia who are under 16, some who choose to start businesses which require a social media presence, or who gather their first customers or supporters through social media.”
Online platforms are replete with “deep, dark algorithmic holes”, she said.
Even so, Cheah said educating young Australians on how to safely navigate those platforms might be preferable to delaying account sign-ups.
A “responsible, long-lived policy might actually be educating young people more deeply on how to understand and manage their presence online,” she said.
“This kind of technology is going to be part of the future that young people grow up into, and if we’re pretending it doesn’t exist as an issue until magically they turn 16, I don’t think we’re setting them up for success in the world of the future.”
Teens will not lose every avenue for online professional development due to social media age restrictions.
Rules set out by former Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland state exempt platforms include those devoted to “professional networking and professional development services”.
This means LinkedIn is likely to escape the age verification requirements imposed on platforms like Facebook.
LinkedIn’s owner Microsoft had lobbied the government for an exemption, effectively arguing its platform was simply too dry and buttoned-up for use by under-16s.
Even so, some particularly career-oriented youth are keen to build a LinkedIn presence.
“We do see people as young as Year Nine opening their like LinkedIn profiles,” said Cheah.
Alternative views in Canberra
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While the social media ban enjoys support from both federal Labor and the Coalition, the argument that blocking teens could stifle entrepreneurship has some support in Canberra.
Social media offers a “platform for young people to engage in politics or kickstart future careers, and banning platforms would stifle this ability,” Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young wrote in a 2024 Parliamentary committee report.
The Greens oppose the ban more broadly, arguing the age restrictions could simply drive young Australians into unregulated online spaces.
The age restriction policy will come under review two years after commencement, giving time for lawmakers to assess “whether any alternative forms of access to social media should be in place”.
That could be a long time to wait for the adults in the room to find the right balance.
“I don’t really have all the solutions,” said Cooper.
“I’m just a 16-year-old, you know.”
