A new Australian law went into effect on Wednesday, banning everyone under 16 years old from social media.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the groundbreaking social media ban for children as families try to take back power from tech giants. Platforms like Facebook and TikTok face hefty fines if they fail to comply.
The move comes as safety concerns are mounting every day, with the FBI warning of a criminal group that targets and extorts children online to make them commit sexual or violent acts.
The FBI calls the group “764” and labels it a terrorist organization.
The sadistic 764 network is preying on vulnerable young people, eliciting private information and intimate sexual images from them and then blackmailing them.
Anonymous predators in the loosely affiliated group target the vulnerable teenagers and kids online, using their sensitive material to pressure the teens into harming themselves or others, and even to livestream it.
There have been roughly 2,000 reports of such abuse in the first nine months of 2025 – double from the year before.
The FBI says 764 is “a network of nihilistic violent extremists” whose goal is “accelerating social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States Government.”
The 764 gang’s goal goes beyond extortion. The FBI explains it’s “a nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) group whose members engage in criminal conduct within the United States and abroad in furtherance of political, social, or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos, destruction, and social instability.”
Donna Rice Hughes, President and CEO of “Enough is Enough,” told CBN, “They are actually preying on kids, really around the ages of 10 to 17, again, on social media platforms and gaming platforms like Roblox and Discord. Why? Because where kids play, predators prey… But whether it’s 764 or anyone else, predators are out there looking for your kids and grooming them.”
- FBI Tip Line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
- Online Tip Form: Submit a tip via tips.fbi.gov.
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): File a complaint at ic3.gov.
Some in the U.S. Senate are calling for more controls like Australia’s to shield young people from exposure to predators.
As CBN News recently reported, the wildly popular online gaming platform Roblox with 151 million users, is adding new safety rules to protect kids after dozens of lawsuits were brought against the company. Critics say the announcement is long overdue after children have been exposed to dangerous elements for many years.
Hughes adds that parents don’t have to feel lost when it comes to protecting kids. “Enough is Enough” provides information and resources so that you can be online safely under direct supervision. You can find those resources by clicking here.
