# Ten Months Logged Out? What the Social Media Ban Has Taught Our Churches

> When under-16s were told to log off last December, youth leaders braced for the worst. Ten months on, the data tells a more complicated story, and it may be the church's opportunity.

By Aditee Vora · 23 October 2026 · Features

Canonical: https://insights.uca.org.au/articles/ten-months-logged-out-what-the-social-media-ban-has-taught-our-churches/

On 10 December 2025, Australia became the first country in the world to stop children under 16 from holding accounts on major social media platforms. In church halls and youth rooms across the country, the reaction was a mix of relief and worry.

The day before the ban began, Frank Simone, a 21-year-old youth coordinator at Springfield parish in Queensland, put the worry plainly. “It’s really hard to reach young people without social media,” he told The Catholic Leader. For many youth groups, social media had quietly become the glue between gatherings: the place where photos were shared, events promoted and newcomers found their way in.

Ten months on, it is worth asking what actually changed.

### **The Scorecard**

Within days, platforms had removed or restricted about 4.7 million accounts belonging to under-16s, according to the eSafety Commissioner. But accounts are not people, and the picture since has been mixed.

eSafety’s own evaluation, which is following more than 4,000 families over two years, found the share of children aged 10 to 15 holding an account on a restricted platform fell from 52.4 per cent to 42.1 per cent in the first three months. That is a real drop, but a partial one. Most children who already had accounts kept them or made new ones, and half of those still online said the platform had never asked them to prove their age.

Independent research has been blunter. A University of Newcastle study published in The BMJ found around 85 per cent of under-16s were still using banned platforms, mostly through their own accounts, and reported “insufficient evidence of any substantive early effects”. In September, Parliament passed tougher enforcement laws to hold platforms to account.

### **A Debate Inside the Church**

Christians have not spoken with one voice on the ban, and some of the most thoughtful disagreement has played out inside a single family.

Graham Stanton directs the Centre for Children’s and Youth Ministry at Ridley College in Melbourne and volunteers as a youth leader at his local church. His son Jono, a 21-year-old musician with a passion for reaching young people, is not convinced government bans can work. When the two wrote companion pieces for Premier NexGen in February, they came down on opposite sides.

Graham admitted the law had not fixed anything yet, and warned it could leave some teenagers more isolated if nothing replaced what they lost. Still, his hope rests on who holds the power. “For every ounce of empowerment that social media offers, the algorithm steals a ton,” he wrote. He saw the law’s real value in backing up parents who want to say no, the same long game Sydney father Dany Elachi described when he campaigned for the ban: trying “to change the social norm around social media use”.

### **What Nobody Expected**

For churches, the most important findings may be the quieter ones. eSafety found that parents now know less about what their children are doing online, not more. The share of parents unaware their child had used social media in the previous four weeks rose from 23.3 per cent to 33.3 per cent, with the biggest shift among parents of girls and children aged 10 to 12.

Young people did not log off so much as move. Daily use of messaging apps rose from 40.5 per cent to 52.3 per cent, alongside more online gaming and more time on platforms outside the ban.

That matters for congregations. The group chat, not the public feed, may now be where a 14-year-old’s friendships live, and it is a space that is harder for parents and youth leaders to see into.

### **What Churches Can Do**

Some church bodies moved early. The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne advised parishes that their social media accounts should not engage directly with under-16s, and encouraged leaders to create more chances for young people to connect offline.

For Uniting congregations in NSW and the ACT, the rules were already in place. The Synod’s leaders’ guide, Safe Ministry with Children and Young People, says leaders should contact young people electronically only to share information about an activity. Apps like Snapchat, WhatsApp and Messenger are off limits in primary and Years 7 to 9 ministry, and for Years 10 to 12 it allows group chats only, with no direct messages. The guide also asks parents and carers to stay alert and stay involved.

That emphasis on parents matters more now that the research shows them seeing less. In my work on the Synod’s social media, it is where our focus sits too: we speak to parents, not directly to young people.

The opportunity, many youth workers argue, is the oldest one the church has: showing up in person. A youth group that meets face to face. A congregation where teenagers know adults beyond their own parents. A church that talks honestly with families about phones without shaming anyone. None of that depends on an algorithm.

### **Somewhere to Belong**

The ban was never going to fix things on its own, as even its supporters admit. What it has done is give churches a clearer view of a question they were already facing. Young people are still online, but they are also still looking for somewhere to belong. The question for every congregation is whether they will find it there.

Filed under: Social media ban, under-16s, youth ministry, online safety, eSafety, Parents, Christian Families, church and technology, young people, uniting church