What the social media ban doesn't cover, and what to do about it

Australia's under-16 social media ban covers a specific list and a specific behaviour: holding an account on one of ten named platforms. That's meaningful. It also leaves three big areas completely open.

1. Messaging apps — wide open

WhatsApp, Messenger and Discord are all exempt. The government carved them out on purpose because banning messaging tools would have been disproportionate. Practically, this is where group-chat pile-ons and peer-to-peer harm happen. The platforms have no age gate. There is no requirement for reasonable steps.

2. Games — wide open

Roblox and Steam are both exempt. Most online games have open chat, friend requests and voice channels — which means stranger contact. This is one of the most common ways grooming starts, and it sits entirely outside the scope of the ban.

3. AI companion apps — wide open and barely watched

Character.AI, Replika, Talkie and similar apps are not social media under the law. They are AI companion apps — chatbots that kids build ongoing relationships with. They are always agreeable, always available, and they have no agenda except engagement. This is the newest and least supervised part of the online landscape. No government has meaningfully regulated it yet.

Why these were left out — not a mistake

The ban deliberately targets the social-media model: public feeds, algorithmic engagement, and the specific harms that come from those. Messaging, calling, gaming and education tools were carved out because banning them would have broken things that families genuinely need.

The problem is that the edges land exactly where parents' real worries are.

What you can actually do

• Talk to your kid first. A real conversation about what they're doing in games, group chats and AI apps matters more than any setting. Our guide on how to talk to your kid about online safety has age-specific approaches if you're not sure where to start.
• Find the privacy settings. On Roblox, Discord and most games, you can set friend requests and direct messages to friends-only or off entirely. It takes five minutes.
• Use the built-in tools. Screen Time on iPhone and Family Link on Android both let you set time limits and see which apps are being used.
• Add a safety layer for the apps the ban misses. Something that flags patterns without showing you private messages — so you know when to start a conversation, not what was said.

Where Aunty Bea fits — honestly

Our free tier, Social Lock, mirrors the ban. It blocks the same ten platforms. That's a solid floor.

Complete Protection covers the gap — messaging, games and AI companion apps. We watch for patterns, not content. We never show you your child's raw messages. When something's worth a conversation, we tell you in plain language.

The ban is a good floor. We help with the room above it.