Meta Removes 756,000 Australian Teen Accounts as Ban Enforcement Looms
Synopsis
Meta has removed 756,000 Instagram and Facebook accounts suspected to belong to Australians under 16 as enforcement of the social media ban continues.
Key Highlights
- Meta said it has removed more than 750,000 accounts of Australians under 16.
- Between December and June 462,000 Instagram accounts and 294,000 accounts have been disabled,
- Government figures and independent research showed it still attracted over eight in 10 under-16s during the first three months of its ban.
Meta said it had disabled 462,000 suspected accounts for under-16s on Instagram and 294,000 accounts on Facebook between just before the start of the ban back in December up to June.
They are higher than the 331,000 Instagram accounts and 173,000 Facebook accounts that Meta said it had taken down by January. Meta stated that the figures are still being updated as enforcement continues, with numbers set to keep rising.
Australia Prepares Tougher Enforcement
On 10 December, Australia confirmed its ban of social media following worries regarding the influence of social media on the physical and mental well-being of kids and young teenagers.
Australia’s internet regulator is weighing enforcement action against platforms that it says have failed to observe the law. The regulator will also have more power to demand documents and the maximum penalty for non-compliance has doubled to A$99 million.
More Children Under The Age Of 16 Are Still On Social Media
More than 8 in 10 under-16s were still on social media in the first three months after the ban, according to both government figures and independent studies.
In Australia, available age-assurance technology products could help underpin the ban, a 2025 trial found. Big companies have already launched photo-based age estimation tools.
Meta said it adopts artificial intelligence to analyse user profiles for signs an account may be owned by someone younger than 16, such as posts celebrating birthdays or references to school marks.
It also processes reports of suspected underage accounts, and has removed the option for users to make new attempts to register for an account after having a previous account deleted. Meta, TikTok, Google and Snapchat representatives are due to appear Friday at a parliamentary inquiry.
Source: Reuters
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