Who Is Julie Inman Grant, the Woman Behind Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban

Australia has started enforcing a nationwide social media ban for children under 16, directing platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to block access for younger users from Wednesday. At the centre of this major step is eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who now oversees how the new rules operate and whether technology companies follow the government’s child safety demands.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has framed the change as a shift in power away from platforms and towards households, describing the first day of the ban as "a day when families are taking back power." For Julie Inman Grant, this moment crowns years spent pushing tech firms to take greater responsibility for harms involving children and other vulnerable users.

Social media ban and Julie Inman Grant’s safety agenda

Julie Inman Grant has made clear that the new rules are meant to disrupt how platforms operate, not just send a warning. "While the tech industry moves backwards, we must move forwards," she said recently. "We are seeking to create some friction [in the] system to protect children where previously there has been close to none … We are treating big tech like the extractive industry it has become."

The eSafety Commissioner argues that children are vastly outmatched by systems designed to keep them online. Research from the office found seven in ten children aged 10 to 15 had seen harmful content, including misogyny, graphic violence, material encouraging disordered eating or content linked to suicide. Most of this appeared on social media feeds driven by algorithms tuned to maximise engagement.

Social media ban linked to long career in global tech

Julie Inman Grant’s public role as eSafety Commissioner began in 2017, when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appointed the former technology executive to lead Australia’s online safety watchdog. In 2021, she gained new enforcement tools under the Online Safety Act 2021, which lets her office order platforms to pull down harmful material, including adult cyberbullying, within 24 hours, and respond to newer threats linked to AI-generated content.

Her long career inside major technology companies informs that regulatory stance. Julie Inman Grant worked at Microsoft after a stint in the 102nd US Congress, then built experience at Adobe and Twitter. At Twitter, she created policy, safety and philanthropy programmes across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, but left after two years, saying she could no longer defend a platform that failed to protect women and other targeted communities.

Social media ban shaped by concerns over kids and algorithms

In public comments, Julie Inman Grant has often highlighted internal material from Meta, disclosed through US legal processes, that shed light on how young users are viewed. "I was shocked to see one document from Meta where they referred to tweens as having a 'herd mentality'," she told The Guardian. "'Go target them, get them on while they're early, and then they'll become adults someday.'"

For the eSafety Commissioner, such documents reveal more than just poor product choices. "These aren't just harmful and deceptive design features. There is a whole infrastructure and an ethos that is putting profits before child protections." That belief underpins Australia’s move to keep under-16s off social networks and push companies to redesign systems around safety rather than growth.

Social media ban, AI regulation and global tech debates

Julie Inman Grant is now applying similar thinking to artificial intelligence, warning that AI firms show patterns already seen with social media platforms. "They're behaving exactly the same way social media companies did 20 years ago: moving fast and breaking things, asking for forgiveness rather than permission," she told the Sydney Morning Herald, adding that specific rules for AI chatbots and "AI companions" are due in March.

Tech governance discussions stretch beyond Australia. The IDTA was launched in September at the Semicon India event organised by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and Semiconductors and Electronics Ecosystem (Semi) in New Delhi. Reuters reported that the initiative aims to guide responsible growth in advanced technologies, reflecting similar concerns about balancing innovation with public interest, especially for children and younger users.

Social media ban tested by legal and political challenges

Legal scrutiny around Australia’s ban is intensifying. The Australian Financial Review reported that Reddit is preparing a High Court challenge, arguing the restrictions interfere with teenagers’ implied right to communicate about politics. The $67 billion platform has retained constitutional expert Perry Herzfeld, SC, and law firm Thomson Geer, which has previously contested several of Julie Inman Grant’s rulings for Elon Musk’s X.

Another case, backed by the Digital Freedom Project and brought by two teenagers, directly questions the legislation behind the social media rules. Julie Inman Grant has said court action was always likely. "We know that some companies were briefing barristers," she said. "Yes, I am prepared for that." For now, the eSafety Commissioner plans to keep applying the law while judges consider the challenges.

Julie Inman Grant has indicated that court outcomes will shape how the policy looks in future, but not her current duties. "We'll see what happens," she said. "If the court makes a decision, we'll abide by it. It may be that the Commonwealth wins. It may be that some changes need to be made to the policy. Who knows? I'm just going to move forward, given there hasn't been any legal constraint placed on us," Grant said.

The eSafety Commissioner has also been pulled into American political debates. Julie Inman Grant was summoned by US Republicans to appear before Congress, where some accused the regulator of "zealotry for global take-downs" and said Julie Inman Grant tried to "silence American speech" by "colluding" with GARM to "censor" the platform then known as Twitter. Julie Inman Grant has declined to attend the hearing.

Julie Inman Grant’s path to this point began far from Canberra. Raised in Seattle by a single mother from age five, she often credits that upbringing with shaping a tough, independent streak. After Microsoft posted her to Australia, she married Australian businessman Nick Grant in the early 2000s, and by 2012 the family had chosen to settle in the country permanently.

Recognition for Julie Inman Grant’s work has grown alongside the disputes. Her website notes that the Australian Financial Review named her among the nation’s most influential women, while the Sydney Morning Herald listed Julie Inman Grant as a leading Australian in foreign affairs. In 2020, the World Economic Forum and Apolitical placed her in the #Agile50 group, highlighting government figures responding to fast-changing technology as Australia’s social media ban for children under 16 takes effect.