TL;DR: Social Media Bans Expand; Google Docs Secret Bullying Platform

In this week's Plugged In by Wired Parents, two countries tightened restrictions on children's social media this week. But the most urgent story isn't happening on TikTok or Instagram—it's happening inside Google Docs. The homework tool your child's school requires is being used as a secret chat room for cyberbullying. Monitoring services report over 60,000 instances. If your child uses Google Workspace, keep reading.

Here's what parents need to know.

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Denmark announced plans to ban social media for children under 15, with some parents able to consent from age 13. The Ministry of Digitalisation said it's addressing sleep disruption, concentration loss, and pressure from "digital relationships where adults are not always present."

What's happening: A coalition of lawmakers across Denmark's political spectrum agreed to set age 15 as the minimum for accessing "certain" social media platforms. The ministry hasn't specified which platforms or how enforcement will work.

Why it matters: Denmark becomes the latest European country to restrict children's social media access, following Australia's under-16 ban in December 2024. Digitalisation Minister Caroline Stage said authorities are "finally drawing a line in the sand" against tech platforms that have "had free rein in children's rooms for far too long."

The parent consent exception: Unlike Australia's strict age-16 cutoff, Denmark will allow parental consent from age 13 "after a specific assessment" - though it's unclear what that means or who conducts it.

The enforcement question: Neither Denmark nor Australia has explained how age verification will work without requiring government IDs - the central challenge for any social media age ban.

Read more: Wired Parents

Australia added Reddit and Kick to its under-16 social media ban, bringing the total to nine platforms. Communications Minister Anika Wells said "the list could continue to change" as the 10 December implementation date approaches.

What's happening: Australia's ban now covers TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, and livestreaming platform Kick. Platforms face fines up to AU$49.5 million (US$32.1 million) for systemic failures to prevent under-16s from holding accounts.

Why it matters to all parents: Australia passed the world's first social media ban for children in December 2024. How they implement it - including which platforms to cover and how to verify ages - is being closely watched by governments worldwide considering similar restrictions.

What Australia's eSafety Commissioner says: Julie Inman Grant will work with academics to evaluate whether children sleep more, interact more in person, or become more physically active under the ban. "We'll also look for unintended consequences, and we'll be gathering evidence" for other countries to learn from.

Academic opposition: More than 140 Australian and international academics oppose the ban as a "blunt instrument" - showing that even experts who study children and technology disagree about whether age restrictions are the right approach.

Read more: Wired Parents

If your child spent three hours on Google Docs yesterday, you likely felt quietly pleased. Homework, you thought. Focused screen time instead of endless scrolling through social media. It might have been a digital burn book.

Monitoring services are reporting over 60,000 instances of children using Google Docs—the educational tool schools require for homework—as secret chat rooms for cyberbullying. Students create shared documents, use the commenting features to harass classmates, then delete everything thinking the evidence disappears. The whole process looks exactly like legitimate schoolwork to anyone glancing at a screen.

When teachers walk past students with Google Docs open, they see children working on assignments. When you check screen time at home and see hours logged on Google Workspace, you feel relieved and thrilled as they're being studious. But the visual appearance is identical whether it's an essay or a coordinated harassment campaign.

Bark's monitoring has identified digital burn books where entire classes pile on to mock individual students, inappropriate sexual content being shared amongst pupils, drug discussions, expressions of suicidal thoughts and planning of in-school conflicts.

The method is very simple.

It functions exactly like a group chat, except it looks like homework to anyone glancing at a screen.

If your child uses Google Docs at school and is being targeted, you might notice a reluctance to open their laptop or access the platform. They may show anxiety when notifications appear during homework time, have sudden mood changes after supposedly working on assignments, or start withdrawing from group projects.

If your child is participating (parents of bullies rarely suspect their child is involved) look for excessive time on Google Docs that doesn't match their actual assignment load, quick screen switching when you approach, or multiple documents with friends' names attached that aren't clearly school assignments.

Start by asking to see their Google Drive. Check the trash folder for recently deleted items, and look for documents with multiple collaborators that don't correspond to known school assignments.

The direct approach often works best: "Do you ever use Google Docs to chat with friends?" Explain you understand the appeal, that they want to communicate with their mates and that's completely normal. But they need to understand what happens when those chat spaces turn cruel.

You could also ask questions of your school.

Many schools genuinely don't know this is happening in their required educational tools.

Full analysis with detailed conversation starters: wired-parents.com/google-docs-cyberbullying-schools

This is the kind of emerging issue that's difficult for schools to detect. Teachers see Google Docs open and naturally assume it's schoolwork. Networks can't block it because it's essential for education.

If your child's school uses Google Workspace, this information could be helpful. Three ways to share:

Google Workspace monitoring requires specific tools and policies. This might prompt useful conversations about what's already in place.

If your child's school would benefit from this information, forward them this newsletter or share the full article directly.

Roblox released its November 2025 safety update showing improvements to how it protects children on the platform.

Source: Games.gg

For more articles from the week, head over to Wired-Parents.com

Did you know? Australia's social media ban is the world's first, but it's not the first time a country has tried to regulate children's technology access. South Korea introduced a "Cinderella Law" in 2011 that prevented children under 16 from playing online games between midnight and 6am. The law was repealed in 2021 after studies showed it didn't significantly impact gaming habits.

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