eSafety Behind the Screen

“The reality of age assurance and social media”

Full title: 'Behind the screen: The reality of age assurance and social media access for young Australians' (Transparency report).

“a 10-minute online survey with a nationally representative sample of children in Australia aged 8 to 15.”

“February 2025”

“The survey was conducted from 18 to 24 September 2024.”

Use questions refer to January–September 2024.

“A total of 1,504 children participated, including 1,049 children aged 8 to 12 and 455 children aged 13 to 15.”

The index covers the 1,049 children aged 8–12. The full survey also included 455 children aged 13–15; account-ownership results use the smaller group who used each service.

“This report primarily examines the experiences of children aged 8 to 12 unless otherwise indicated.”

“A non-probability-based online panel provider (Octopus Group) was used to recruit survey participants for this project, with children recruited via their parents/carers.”

Quotas covered age, gender, location and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander identity.

“Children were asked if they had used social media services since January 2024, including Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch or YouTube.”“Children were asked whether they held their own profile or account on any service they used, or whether they used these services without an account or used someone else's account.”

Use and account-ownership questions cover eight services for children aged 8–12. The index counts seven for Underage Use. YouTube is excluded because the survey cannot distinguish permitted supervised access, as described on PDF pp.31–32. Account ownership is asked only for services the child has used.

“Children were asked if they had used social media services since January 2024, including Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch or YouTube.”

The index counts Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok and Twitch. Reddit and Twitch were measured, but Table 7 suppresses their results because each has fewer than 50 respondents (PDF pp.56–57). YouTube is excluded from Underage Use because permitted supervised access cannot be distinguished.

“Do you currently have your own profile or account on any of the following websites or apps?”

Question D1 is asked for services used since January 2024. Table 7 (PDF pp.56–57) reports account types among users of each service aged 8–12. Reddit and Twitch results are suppressed because each has fewer than 50 respondents. YouTube is excluded from the index’s Underage Use app count because permitted supervised access cannot be distinguished.