Social media restrictions require timely and coordinated evaluation

Public policy is one of the most powerful tools available to governments to improve public health.Australia's social media minimum-age legislation is a policy with considerable potential for impact in Australia and internationally.It is designed to reduce (or delay) exposure to online harms and support healthier development during adolescence.The legislation requires in-scope social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent children younger than 16 years from creating or maintaining accounts, by implementing age verification measures.Evaluations of its impacts are being closely followed by countries considering enacting similar legislation, 1 including in the UK where the government recently announced new social media regulations.