Teenagers can get jobs before 16. But what happens now to those who rely on social media for an income?

2 months ago 17

McDonald’s. Big W. Bunnings. These are common employers for those under the age of 16. But what happens to teens who work on social media platforms the eSafety Commissioner has banned?

“To be completely honest with you guys, it’s actually one of the reasons we decided to leave Australia,” said Bec Lea, the mother of 14-year-old Charlotte (Charli) and 17-year-old Prezley and wife of Beck Lea, in a video shared weeks before Australia’s world-first social media ban took effect on December 10.

Aussie teenagers, including Olympian Arisa Trew, 14-year-old content creator Zoey from @_heyitszoeyandmark, and influencer Deja Clark use social media to generate income through brand deals.Credit: Matt Willis

The Leas are also known to their more than 1.85 million YouTube subscribers as the EMPIRE Family. In October, they told their followers they would be trading the affluent suburb of Cottesloe in Perth, Western Australia, for London so Charli could continue to create content on social media.

“Australia was our home, here has everything begun – but sometimes life leads you into a new adventure,” Bec said. “When it became clear that the ban really was coming, we knew: We’ve got to find a solution. Charli loves being online.”

In a comment under a video showing Bec’s move to the United Kingdom in November – she went ahead of her wife and children – Bec clarified the family, who are believed to earn a six-figure income through social media sponsorships, are not against the social media ban and were already looking to live overseas before it was legislated.

“We aren’t naive to the fact there are some real problems for some kids on social media but those people who know us and follow us know we travel often for work and we were looking at moving BEFORE the ban was confirmed,” the comment reads.

“We were already leaving and decided to leave before the ban begins.”

They’re not the only ones. Kat Clark, who was named TikTok Australia’s Creator of the Year in 2022, announced in April – five months after the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 received Royal Assent and became law – that she and her husband Jonathan Clark would be moving to Los Angeles with their youngest daughter, 14-year-old influencer Deja Clark. Their oldest daughter, 22-year-old Latisha Clark, remains on the Gold Coast.

Kat said the move to the United States was so the family could pursue more opportunities, including brand deals and a lifestyle change. The family has not said it is because of the social media ban, though Kat has previously criticised it on TikTok.

“I know I’m going to get hate for this, but banning teenagers from social media is not the solution because they’re going to do it behind your back anyway,” Kat said in a November 2024 video.

The Clark family’s move to the United States means they can access TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program, which is not available to content creators in Australia. The fund remunerates eligible creators for publishing engaging content, and while exact figures vary, it’s believed the platform pays between 40 cents to $1 per 1000 views.

Deja’s most recent video has more than 1.5 million views at the time of publishing. Creators have to be at least 18 years old to access the rewards program, but Deja’s account is managed by her parents (all her public social media profiles have been since before the ban, for safety and privacy reasons).

Parents managing a child’s social media account is a workaround that some prominent figures in Australia, including 14-year-old vocal social media ban critic Zoey of @_heyitszoeyandmark, have used to keep their public accounts active – and earning. (It also means they can livestream on TikTok, which prohibits that feature for under-18s).

Australia’s youngest Olympic gold medallist, 15-year-old skateboarder Arisa Trew, for example, has more than 190,000 followers on Instagram and 53,000 followers on TikTok.

The fact her father, Simon Trew, has been managing her public accounts since they started is perhaps why she can still post advertisements for her sponsor, chew lolly Zappos.

While social media posts are not the only part of a sponsorship deal – for some competitions, athletes can be outfitted in branded clothing, for example – it is a critical element for brands who are trying to reach young audiences in particular, says Dr Adam Karg, a professor in sports management at Victoria’s Deakin University.

“They’re financially absolutely worth less now for young athletes,” Karg says of sponsorship deals for athletes under 16 with the ban in effect. A core tenet of a contract nowadays, Karg says, is social media posting – and delivering on that is crucial for some athletes to be able to continue pursuing their sport.

“If you’re an athlete from a low socio-economic background, the value provided by sponsorships is obviously really, really important,” says Karg. “A lot of athletes at the semi-professional and professional level, their full-time job is to train … this is an income stream for them. The sponsors essentially support them through the … day-to-day costs associated with their lives but also travel [to competitions].”

Although a workaround could be parents managing their accounts, Karg says because audiences know the posts are filtered through a gatekeeper, in the view of a sponsor who is buying an authentic message to young people from a fellow youth, that can devalue the young athlete’s word.

That personal connection is perhaps why, last week, 15-year-old Australian Olympic skateboarder Chloe Covell bid an emotional goodbye to her 325,000 Instagram followers who have “supported [her] from the beginning”. (Covell’s account is still visible at the time of publishing, indicating that it has not been deactivated or suspended).

The Australian Sports Commission is in contact with the eSafety Commissioner regarding the commercial interests and obligations of athletes under the age of 16.

On December 9, Swimming Australia released guidance for their athletes. It noted that athletes who are under 16 and have sponsorship agreements obligating them to make social media posts “might seek to renegotiate the terms of their agreement to require posting on a platform that is not caught under the new framework”.

How plausible an option that is, the peak governing body says, remains to be seen, and it has advised affected athletes to “seek specialist advice tailored to their individual circumstances”.

For some teenage social media stars, however, it’s not just about the money. Leo Puglisi, who is now aged 18 but was 11 years old when he founded 6 News Australia, says it’s clear from the online news channel’s comments section that some of its followers would be affected (no current members of his team of young journalists are impacted by the ban).

“I’m absolutely concerned that the ban impacts young people from being informed about the world from any news source, although my main reasons for opposing the ban continue to be privacy concerns, lack of consultation and the negative impact it risks having on many teens,” Puglisi told this masthead in a statement.

Musician Prashasti Jolly, 14, wants to create a solution for teenagers who use social media for professional purposes.

Before Prashasti Jolly’s Instagram was deactivated due to the ban, the 14-year-old Sydney artist used it to share her music, and youth advocacy and wellbeing work.

“There’s this smaller group of like-minded young people who use these platforms for more than just entertainment,” says Jolly. “For us, it’s where community projects begin to happen and collaborations form.”

She intends to work with specialists, including child psychologists, to create a government-aligned space for “young people who genuinely need a professional environment to collaborate in”. LinkedIn’s long-standing minimum age limit is 16.

“Young people don’t need unlimited freedom online,” says Jolly. “We just need the right kind of space.”

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