Snapchat has begun asking children and teenagers in Australia to verify their ages, including with software owned by the country’s banks, according to a company spokesperson.
The move on Monday, November 24, 2025, comes as Australia prepares to enforce a world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 starting on December 10, 2025.
The law, which threatens social media platforms with a fine of up to Ksh4.14 billion for noncompliance, is one of the world’s toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.
In addition to Snapchat, the ban currently applies to YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch, and Kick.
In a statement on Saturday, Snapchat said users will be able to verify their age through the ConnectID application, which links to their bank accounts, or by using software owned by Singapore-headquartered age-assurance provider, k-ID.
ConnectID, which is owned and used by most major Australian banks, said it would send the tech platform a “yes/no” signal about whether the person was over 16 based on their account details, without making them upload sensitive information.
“The goal here is to protect young people online without creating new privacy risks,” said ConnectID managing director Andrew Black in a statement.
In the k-ID option, users can upload government-issued identification cards to verify their ages or submit photos, which the application will then use to estimate an age range.
Keep lines of communication open
Snapchat has previously said it believes about 440,000 of its users in Australia are aged between 13 and 15.
Snapchat added that it “strongly disagreed” with the Australian government’s assessment that it should be included in the social media ban, claiming its service provides a “visual messaging app”.
“Disconnecting teens from their friends and family doesn’t make them safer – it may push them to less safe, less private messaging apps,” it warned.
Some other apps have been able to secure an exception from the ban, including Discord, WhatsApp, Lego Play, and Pinterest. But Australian authorities have reserved the right to update the list of banned platforms as required.
Several young people and advocates have expressed concerns about the potential consequences of the new ban, including 18-year-old journalist and founder of youth news service 6 News Australia Leo Puglisi, who told an Australian Senate inquiry that the ban will affect young people’s access to information.
UNICEF Australia has also expressed concerns about implementation, saying the changes proposed by the Australian government “won’t fix the problems young people face online”.
“Social media has a lot of good things, like education and staying in touch with friends,” UNICEF Australia said in a statement.
“We think it’s more important to make social media platforms safer and to listen to young people to make sure any changes actually help.”
Katrina Lines, the CEO of children’s therapy provider Act for Kids, said that parents should start having conversations with childrenas soon as possible about how they can stay connected as the ban comes into effect over the coming weeks.
“It’s important to keep the lines of communication open in the lead up to and even long after these changes take effect,” Lines said.
Act for Kids said it surveyed more than 300 Australian children aged 10 to 16, and found 41 percent would prefer to connect with family in real life compared to only 15 percent who preferred to spend time online. But Lines said families still need to work out how to improve in-person connections.
“One way of starting this conversation could be by asking them how they would like to stay connected to friends and family outside of social media,” she said.
