IM BLOG: Safeguarding Your Digital Footprint – Social Information Governance for Australians Under 16

As of 10 December 2025, Australia has introduced a world-first ban on under 16s accessing major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Snapchat, Reddit, YouTube, X and Twitch. The ban offers protection for young people from proven social media harm, yet it has created challenges for those who use these platforms as a form of capturing their social history, personal content, evidence of connections with others and digital provenance.

For young people today, social media has been about:

• A record of growing up such as photos, videos, and posts capturing formative years.
• A social diary full of messages and connections that reflect their history of friendships and communities.
• A creative outlet including stories, and shared content showcase self‑expression.

With accounts now facing deactivation or deletion, families face the urgent task of safeguarding those digital memories before they vanish.

Legally, this is a significant change for future generations but from an information governance perspective, these are records of childhood for thousands of young Australians. Losing them risks erasing personal history.

Before access is removed, parents and guardians can help children preserve their digital lives by using platform tools to download account data. Note that the exports may not remain in the same format and will need to be reviewed to minimise any further risk to the child. Be sure to securely store your exports in a safe place and gain permission from parents to store other children’s information or photographs.

Some other associated risks include incomplete exports and platform-dependent content (social media platforms don’t make it easy to export content in a meaningful way), risks that other children are downloading your child’s image, time stamps and other information that offer provenance may be lost and some platforms may take days or weeks to process an export request, meaning you may no longer have the option to export data.

Remember, Australia’s social media ban is a landmark in child protection, but it also exposes the fragility of young people’s digital records. This is an opportunity to provide safety and freedom from exposure to unnecessary risk, and by understanding what has been published by your child, you are better equipped to address future risks, whilst preserving their personal history.

Meet your blog author:

 

Sarah Eddy CERIM ARIM

Sarah is an IT-forward Information Governance Specialist who simplifies complexities so that people can go about their business unhindered.

With close to two decades spanning governance, IT and information governance, she's partnered with dozens of organisations in both the public and private sectors to align information requirements with operational objectives.

Sarah's approach is practical, governance should enable, not burden and information should be managed in a way that supports better decisions, accountability, security and trust. I’m motivated by making frameworks work in real-world environments, whether in complex organisations or during times of change.