Implementing Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Law

This year the Australian government is implementing a new law, the ‘Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act’, which restricts usage of platforms that they deem to be social media, to those 16 years of age or older. For more information on the Australian laws prompting this change, please see here.

Since the very beginning, Snapchat is and has always been, a visual messaging app. The primary purpose of Snapchat is to connect our community with their closest friends and family through messaging. We know that Snapping is the most personal way of communicating.

Nonetheless, the Australian government disagrees and has classified Snapchat as an Age-Restricted Social Media Platform. And while we strongly disagree with this assessment, we will comply, as we do with all local laws in countries in which we operate. 

However, disconnecting teens from their friends and family doesn’t make them safer — it may push them to less safe, less private messaging apps. We continue to advocate for more privacy-conscious solutions, such as mandating age verification at the device, operating system, or app store level.

What this means for users under 16

As a result of this new law, from December 10, 2025, we will be taking steps to lock accounts of users in Australia under 16 years of age. We understand this can feel disappointing and want to ensure anyone impacted knows how these changes affect them. 

If you are under 16, you will not be able to maintain a Snapchat account. If you have an existing Snapchat account, we encourage you to download your data as soon as possible. You will be given three years to download your data from the time your account is locked. We also suggest you cancel any subscriptions to Snapchat+ or Memories+. 

After your account is locked, it will be preserved in a locked state for three years. After that, it will become deactivated.  However, if you turn 16 any time during the three year period, you can verify your age to reinstate your account.

What this means for users over 16 

Starting this week, many users will be asked to verify their age to continue accessing Snapchat. These users will see a prompt when they open Snapchat, you simply need to tap ‘Verify Your Age’ to begin the process.

There are a few ways you can verify your age:

• ConnectID (bank-verified): You can verify your age through a connection with your Australian bank account.

• Photo ID: You can scan your government-issued identification card and our third-party service provider, k-ID, will scan and validate your ID document and age. The documents you submit will only be used to verify your age. These documents include passport, drivers licence or any other state issued ID.

• Facial Age Estimation: You can take a selfie and k-ID will estimate an age range.

Snap will only collect a “yes/no” result on whether someone is above the minimum age threshold (e.g., 16). We will not receive your facial scans, bank account details, or any other personal information you provide during the age verification process.

Please note that Snap will always ask you to log into your Snapchat account to verify your age and we never request that personal information be sent via email or an SMS.

If you need additional help with your account

If you are having issues verifying your age or think your account was locked by mistake, contact our Help page for more information.

If you are worried about the impact of these changes

If you are distressed by these changes and need additional support, please consider speaking with a trusted adult and refer to these resources from the youth mental health services headspace and ReachOut.

We understand these changes mean that some of our community won’t have access to Snapchat from December 10, but we look forward to welcoming you back to Snapchat once you are 16. We can’t wait to Snap with you again!