It’s official: Social media is ubiquitous among 14 – 15 year old Australians
New data from Roy Morgan shows today that 624,000 Australian children aged 14 and 15 use at least one social media platform in an average four weeks. This research highlights the scale of online engagement among young teenagers ahead of the introduction of the ‘social media ban’ next week which bans children under 16 from access to major social media services.
New Roy Morgan research shows exceptionally high reach across the major platforms, with YouTube (95%), Snapchat (87%), Facebook (81%) and Instagram (78%) the most widely used among 14–15-year-olds. Significant proportions also use Reddit (70%), TikTok (59%) and X/ Twitter (41%), while Twitch (12%) and Threads (9%) remain more niche platforms.
The findings come at a pivotal moment, as the legislation, which comes into force on Wednesday December 10, aims to ban or significantly restrict social media access for children under 16. With almost all (99.96%) 14–15-year-olds using at least one platform, the potential impact on young Australians, parents, educators and digital providers will be substantial.
% of 14 and 15 years olds who use social media in an average 4 weeks
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Base: Australian, aged 14-15 year olds between October 2024 to September 2025, total: (n= 1,426).
Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine says:
“These numbers show just how deeply social media is embedded in the daily lives of Australian teenagers. With 95% using YouTube and more than four in five on platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram, the new legislation to ban social media for Australians under 16 set to be enforced from next week will affect almost every 14–15-year-old in the country.”
For comments or more information about Roy Morgan’s data please contact Julian McCrann for more details. Email: julian.mccrann@roymorgan.com.
Social media platforms included on Australia’s ‘social media ban’ for under 16s are: Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.
Services that eSafety considers will not be age-restricted social media platforms: Discord, GitHub, Google Classroom, LEGO Play, Messenger, Pinterest, Roblox, Steam & Steam Chat, WhatsApp and YouTube Kids.
Reports available for sale:
The latest Roy Morgan data is available on the Roy Morgan Online Store. It provides demographic breakdowns for Age, Sex, State, Region (Capital Cities/ Country), Generations, Lifecycle, Socio-Economic Scale, Work Status, Occupation, Home Ownership, Voting Intention, Roy Morgan Value Segments, Helix Personas, Media Consumption, and more.
About Roy Morgan
Roy Morgan is Australia’s largest independent Australian research company, with offices in each state, as well as in the U.S. and U.K. A full-service research organisation, Roy Morgan has over 80 years’ experience collecting objective, independent information on consumers.
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
