Kids to lose social media access but others will be OK

Forcing all Australians to verify their age under the federal government's world-leading social media ban would be "unreasonable", the online safety watchdog says.

As Australia prepares to ban children under 16 from creating social media accounts, the federal government and eSafety Commissioner have unveiled new guidelines for tech giants.

Platforms will no longer be able to rely on users self-declaring their age.

Instead, they are expected to find and deactivate or remove underage accounts, in addition to preventing users under 16 from circumventing the rules.

While the Labor government has claimed this will be a major change that bolsters kids' safety, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant assured adults their user experiences should remain largely unaffected.

"One of the scare tac