Why Bans Fail: Tipping Points and Australia’s Social Media Ban

Leonardo Bursztyn (), Angela Duckworth (), Rafael Jiménez-Durán (), Aaron Leonard (), Filip Milojević (), Christopher Roth () and Cass R. Sunstein ()
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Leonardo Bursztyn: University of Chicago & NBER
Angela Duckworth: University of Pennsylvania
Rafael Jiménez-Durán: Bocconi University, IGIER, CEPR, CESifo, & Stigler Center
Aaron Leonard: University of Chicago
Filip Milojević: University of Chicago
Christopher Roth: University of Cologne, ECONtribute, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, MPI for Behavioral Economics, & CEPR
Cass R. Sunstein: Harvard Law School

No 72, ECONtribute Policy Brief Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: Four months after Australia banned under-16s from major social media platforms, only about a quarter of affected teenagers comply, and the way the ban is designed makes that share more likely to erode than to grow. In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban under-16s from holding accounts on major social media platforms, and comparable legislation has since been adopted, drafted, or proposed in more than a dozen other countries. We surveyed roughly two thousand Australian teenagers four months after the ban took effect. Compliance is low, around 25%, and is unlikely to consolidate. Teenagers say they would need roughly two-thirds of their peers to comply before complying themselves, and they perceive compliers as less popular than non-compliers. Sustaining higher compliance will require pairing the ban with instruments that act on social norms and individual incentives directly.

Keywords: Social media ban; tipping points; coordination; compliance; network effects; peer effects; social norms; adolescents; technology regulation; Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D85 D91 I18 L51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 4 pages
Date: 2026-06
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https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkpbs/ECONtribute_PB_072_2026.pdf First version, 2026 (application/pdf)

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