Aussie content creators feel sting of losing young fans

Australian content creators are reporting drops in followers and views a day after the country imposed a sweeping teen social media ban, posing risks for incomes and forcing rethinks of content strategies.

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Mr Josh Partington, 29, typically gets 100,000 views on his TikToks, where he makes comedy skits about everyday life in Australia. But his first video since the ban started on Dec 10 has barely reached one-tenth of that.

"Both my TikTok and Instagram videos from yesterday underperformed pretty noticeably," he said. "They both landed under 10,000 views which is very unusual for me."

Australia has ordered 10 of the biggest platforms including TikTok, Meta's Instagram and Alphabet's YouTube to bar around one million users under 16 or face hefty fines.

As many teenagers grapple with a new reality without social media, content creators who spent years cultivating their followings are also feeling the effects of losing their most active audience members.