Meta closes 550,000 accounts to comply with Australia's kids social media ban

"To comply with Australia's under-16 social media ban, Meta said on Medium that it has shut down nearly 550,00 accounts. That number includes 330,000 Instagram, 173,000 Facebook and 40,000 Threads accounts deemed to belong to children. "Ongoing compliance with the law will be a multi-layered process that we will continue to refine, though our concerns about determining age online without an industry standard remain," the company wrote."

"Australia's minimum age social media ban, the first of its kind in the world for a democracy, went into effect on December 10. The ten platforms affected, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Reddit and Twitch, must bar underage users or face a fine of up to $AUD 49.5 million ($33 million). Platforms are using a variety of means to determine age, including age inference based on activity and selfies."

Meta deactivated nearly 550,000 accounts after Australia's under‑16 social media ban, including about 330,000 Instagram, 173,000 Facebook and 40,000 Threads accounts identified as children. The ban took effect on 10 December and requires ten major platforms to block underage users or face fines up to AUD 49.5 million. Platforms are using age inference, activity signals and selfie checks to verify age. Reddit has sued the Australian government, arguing it should not be included and raising privacy and political expression concerns. Meta warned the ban can isolate teens, push them to less regulated spaces, expose inconsistent verification methods and harm engagement and revenue.

Read at Engadget