Social media ban: Meta closes 550,000 Australian user accounts
Meta has closed 550,000 user accounts of individuals under 16 years of age. The company is reacting to the social media ban that came into effect in December.
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has closed 550,000 Australian user accounts, according to its own statements. The US company is complying with a recently enacted Australian law that prohibits social media use for those under 16 years of age.
Among the closed user accounts are around 330,000 Instagram accounts, 173,000 Facebook accounts, and almost 40,000 Threads accounts. Meta Australia writes in its policy blog on the blogging platform Medium that it assumes all these accounts belong to users under 16. The US company reiterates its opposition to the social media ban. Meta advocates for standardized age verification and industry-wide protection for young people.
Strictest age restriction worldwide
On December 10, the law, which was passed by parliament in November 2024, came into effect in Australia, prohibiting access to social networks for individuals under 16 years of age. The law obliges some platform operators to implement suitable age verification technologies to ensure that their users are old enough. If the affected companies do not consistently verify users' ages, they face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (around 29 million euros).
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Australia is thus the first democracy worldwide to introduce a minimum age of 16 for the use of some social networks. The new legislation primarily aims to protect children and adolescents from harmful content, bullying, cybergrooming, sexualized violence, and suicides related to online abuse.
Ten platforms are affected by the ban for minors under 16 years of age. Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube must deny access to users under 16. Discord, GitHub, Google Classroom, LEGO Play, Facebook Messenger, Pinterest, Roblox, Steam and Steam Chat, WhatsApp, and YouTube Kids can also offer their services to those under 16. Nevertheless, the legislator reserves the right to continuously update the list of platforms falling under the new legislation.
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