News Australia’s Let Them Be Kids campaign wins top INMA honours
The campaign was behind Australia’s social media ban.
News Corp Australia has taken out two first-place awards at the 2026 INMA Global Media Awards in Berlin, with its Let Them Be Kids editorial campaign recognised for its role in pushing Australia’s world-first social media age restriction laws.
The campaign won Best Public Relations or Community Service Campaign (National) and Best Use of Print (National) at the International News Media Association's annual awards.
The Let Them Be Kids campaign focused on the physical, psychological, social, and emotional impacts that social media was having on children and advocated for the Federal Government to raise the minimum age for social media access to 16.
Following 18 months of reporting, Australia became the first country to pass legislation banning children under 16 from social media platforms.
Campaign recognised on global stage
The awards were accepted in Berlin by Melanie Pilling, who led the campaign.
“Let Them Be Kids had one objective - to help make Australia's kids safer online. Critical to the success of this campaign was the parents who trusted us to tell their stories. These parents had suffered unimaginable loss, and our campaign gave them a voice,” Pilling said.
“We achieved what we set out to do, but significantly, also started a global movement around online safety with dozens of countries looking to introduce similar laws.”
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The INMA Global Media Awards attracted a record 960 entries from 274 media brands across 46 countries this year, with the ceremony held in Berlin before more than 400 guests.
Additional honours for News Australia
News Australia also secured several additional placings across the awards program, including:
• Second Place: Best Use of Audio (National) – Dear Rachelle
• Third Place: Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales or Revenue (National) – Back Australia
• Third Place: Best Revenue Diversification Strategy (Regional) – News Price Harmonisation Program
Main image: Melanie Pilling
