Albanese says the social media ban is working, but it is too early to say if it has been successful

"One is the feedback that we've had from parents saying, thank you for doing this, this has made a difference in our household, he said. The second is from young people themselves. There's a lot of younger people that I've spoken to who speak about, gee, we wish that was in place when I was 13 or 14. It's making a difference to my younger brother or sister'."

"It is true that compliance by the platforms subject to the ban gave the Australian government an early win.But tangible evidence that it's achieving the broader goals of the policy, such as by improving mental health outcomes for teens, has yet to come. Part of it is the timing: it is currently school holidays and the Australian summer means it is too soon to collect much data on how it is progressing."

"The Australian eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said on Friday the number was potentially lower than expected. The real impacts will not be measured just in days and weeks, but actually in terms of years and demonstration. Anecdotally, everyone knows of teens who have been able to bypass the age assurance checks, such as by changing the birth date on their account and passing the facial age estimation tool."

More than 4.7 million accounts for users under 16 have been taken offline under the Australian social media ban. The prime minister measured success through parental feedback, young people saying it helps younger siblings, and claims that the policy is working and being replicated internationally. The UK prime minister said he was watching the Australian experiment with interest. Platform compliance delivered an early operational win, but measurable improvements in teen mental health are not yet evident. School holidays and the Australian summer limit current data collection. The eSafety commissioner warned impacts may be lower than expected and measurable only over years. Teens have reportedly bypassed age checks by altering birth dates and using facial age estimation workarounds.

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