Global Crackdown on Youth Social Media Access Intensifies

The Australian government's online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, announced on Friday, November 21, 2025, that the Amazon-owned livestreaming giant Twitch will be subject to the country's stringent new age restrictions. Effective from Tuesday, December 10, 2025 (EAT), the platform must take verifiable steps to prevent all Australians under the age of 16 from creating or maintaining accounts. This move places Twitch alongside other major platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, which are also impacted by the world-first legislation.

The decision comes as part of the enforcement of Australia's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which mandates that designated platforms implement robust age verification systems. Companies that fail to demonstrate 'reasonable steps' to comply face severe penalties, including fines of up to A$49.5 million (approximately KSh 4.2 billion). In a statement, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant clarified that Twitch was included after a self-assessment by the company and a review by the regulator concluded its service has the "sole or significant purpose of online social interaction with features designed to encourage user interaction, including through livestreaming content." Twitch has confirmed it will block new under-16 accounts from December 10 and will deactivate existing accounts of underage users starting from January 9, 2026.

Kenya's Proposed Solution: A Digital ID Gateway

The developments in Australia offer a crucial global context for Kenya's own vigorous debate on youth online safety. Awaiting parliamentary review is the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025, sponsored by Aldai MP Marianne Kitany. This proposed legislation takes a different, and arguably more stringent, approach by seeking to require all social media users, both new and existing, to verify their age using their national biometric identification cards. If passed, platforms operating in Kenya, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, would be legally obligated to integrate this verification step.

Proponents of the Kenyan bill argue that current self-declaration age gates are ineffective and easily bypassed by minors. They contend that linking social media access to the national ID system is the only robust way to protect children from harmful online content and exploitation. However, the proposal has ignited a fierce debate, with digital rights advocates raising significant concerns about potential data privacy violations, freedom of expression, and the risk of increased state surveillance. This legislative push places Kenya at the forefront of a global conversation, potentially becoming the first nation to enforce mandatory national ID verification for social media access.

Divergent Paths to a Common Goal

The Australian and Kenyan models represent two distinct philosophies for tackling the same problem. Australia's legislation places the onus on tech companies to develop and implement 'reasonable' age assurance technologies, which could include AI-driven age estimation or other privacy-preserving methods, without mandating a specific system like government ID. The eSafety Commissioner's role is to provide regulatory guidance and enforce compliance, creating a framework that holds platforms accountable for their methods.

In contrast, the proposed Kenyan law is more prescriptive, directly linking online identity to a foundational government-issued document. While this could offer a more definitive method of age verification, it also centralizes a significant amount of user data and control. The debate in Kenya, therefore, revolves around balancing child protection with fundamental civil liberties in the digital sphere. As African internet penetration grows—with an estimated 400 million active social media users on the continent—the outcome of Kenya's bill will be closely watched by other nations in the region grappling with similar challenges.

Global Context and Corporate Compliance

The global regulatory landscape for social media is becoming increasingly fragmented. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows member states to set their own age of digital consent between 13 and 16. In the United Kingdom, the Online Safety Act imposes a duty of care on platforms to protect children from harmful content, while several US states have also passed laws restricting minors' access to social media. This patchwork of regulations creates a complex compliance environment for multinational tech companies like Twitch.

While Twitch's public terms of service already prohibit users under the age of 13, the Australian law raises this bar to 16 and demands active enforcement rather than passive policy. Demographic data from various 2025 reports show that Twitch's user base skews young, with a significant portion of its audience in the 16-24 age bracket, making the impact of the Australian law substantial for its market presence there. As nations worldwide, including Kenya, continue to tighten online safety rules, platforms will face increasing pressure to invest in sophisticated age assurance technologies and navigate diverse legal requirements, fundamentally reshaping the digital experience for young users globally.