Social media safety for teens
4 min readReviewed October 2026 · Internet Safety Australia Editorial Team
In short
- Private account, known followers only, location off — the teen baseline.
- Agree the rules together; teens follow rules they helped write.
- Keep the “you can always tell me” door open — it’s the real safety net.
- Private accounts on every platform; follower lists pruned to people they actually know.
- No location sharing, no school name + photo combos, no live-posting outings.
- Stranger DMs that move fast to flattery, gifts or secrecy get shown to you — no blame, ever.
- Nothing posted that couldn’t survive being seen by everyone, forever.
- Under the social media minimum age rules (from 10 December 2025), age-restricted platforms must take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off — see our plain-English guide for what that means at home.
The conversation beats the checklist
Ask what they’re seeing, who they follow, what’s gone wrong for friends lately. Teens who can talk to a parent about a bad DM report it; teens who fear losing their phone hide it. If something happens — bullying, sextortion, creepy contact — the playbook pages on this site walk you both through it.
Agree a family tech agreement
A written agreement — device-free times, charging outside bedrooms, what’s okay to share — ends nightly negotiations. See our family online-safety agreement template in Resources.
Common questions
Where to report this
Report to eSafety
Cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse, image-based abuse, and illegal or restricted online content.
Go to eSafety (leaves our site — official service)Official sources for this guide
- eSafety — social media (leaves our site — official service)
- Raising Children Network — social media (leaves our site — official service)
Reviewed October 2026 by Internet Safety Australia Editorial Team. Internet Safety Australia is independent and not a government website.