Australia is inching toward becoming the first country to ban social media for kids under 16, following a successful tech trial that proved age verification can work without wrecking existing platforms. Basically, they tested whether apps could reliably check a user’s age—and it turns out they can.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just another "think of the children" debate—it’s a real-world test of whether governments can actually enforce age restrictions online. If Australia pulls it off, other countries might follow, reshaping how young people access the internet. But there are big questions too: Will it actually protect kids, or just push them toward sketchier workarounds? And who decides what counts as "social media" anyway?