Meta Removes 756,000 Australian Teen Accounts Amid Under-16 Social Media Ban

Meta says it has taken down more than 750,000 accounts suspected of belonging to Australians under 16 since the country’s world first social media ban took effect, as regulators consider tougher enforcement action against platforms.

Account Removals Rise Sharply Since December

Between just before the ban’s launch in December and June, Meta deactivated 462,000 suspected Instagram accounts and 294,000 suspected Facebook accounts. This marks a significant increase from the 331,000 Instagram and 173,000 Facebook accounts the company had removed by January.

Compliance Concerns Persist

Australia’s law banning social media use for under-16s came into force on December 10, driven by concerns over the impact of social media on young people’s mental and physical health. Despite platform efforts, government data and independent studies show more than eight in ten under-16 users remained active on social media during the ban’s first three months. Australian regulators have accused platforms of setting the ban up to fail and have since doubled maximum penalties for non-compliance to 99 million Australian dollars.

Parliamentary Hearing Scheduled Friday

Representatives from Meta, TikTok, Google owned YouTube and Snapchat are set to testify before a parliamentary inquiry on Friday. Meta said enforcement remains ongoing and that it is using AI tools to detect contextual clues, such as mentions of birthdays or school grades, to identify underage users, while also blocking repeated account creation attempts after removal.