Teens are having fun getting around the teen social media ban

Teens are gleefully flouting Australia’s social media ban on teenagers, boasting about their ability to bypass the rules by using malicious services and playfully mocking the prime minister for failing to keep them offline.

The first official day of the ban was marked by widespread circumvention of the ban, with wall-to-wall media coverage of young Australians saying they had no problems accessing social media despite the restrictions.

While the government has long and increasingly loudly warned that the ban would not be perfect, it marked the start of the policy on December 10 with statements such as “Under-16s across Australia started the day a little differently: without social media.” Anthony Albanese wrote on social media.