Younger Australian teens on Instagram, Facebook and Threads are being told their accounts will be closed ahead of the country’s under-sixteen social media ban.
Meta, which owns all three brands, said it had begun notifying users it believes are between 13 and 15 years old via text, email and in-app messages that their accounts would begin to be deactivated starting Dec. 4.
The ban in Australia comes into effect on December 10. It affects several platforms which also include TikTok, YouTube, X and Reddit.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the “world-leading” ban was aimed at “letting kids be kids.” Meta and other companies oppose the measure but said they would comply.
Australia’s internet regulator has estimated there are 150,000 Facebook users and 350,000 teenagers on Instagram aged 13 to 15.
Starting December 4, children under 16 years of age will not be able to create accounts on Meta social media platforms.
The company said it was asking young users to update their contact details so they could be notified when they were eligible to open an account.
They can download and save their posts, videos and messages before their accounts are closed.
Meta said teens who said they were old enough to use Instagram, Facebook and Threads could challenge the restriction by taking a “selfie video” to use in facial age scans.
They might also provide a driver’s license or other government-issued ID.
All of these verification methods were tested by the UK-based Age Verification Certification System (ACCS) earlier this year, in a report commissioned by the Australian state.
While the ACCS said all methods had their advantages, it added: “We did not find a single, ubiquitous solution that suited all use cases, nor did we find solutions that ensured their effectiveness in all implementations.”
Social media platforms that fail to take “reasonable steps” to block those under the age of sixteen face fines of up to A$50m (£25m).
“While we are working hard to remove all users we understand are under 16 by December 10, enforcement will be an ongoing, multi-layered process,” Antigone Davis, vice president and global head of security at Meta, told Reuters Financial.
Meta wants to see a law where people under sixteen have to get parental approval before downloading a social media app.
The firm told Australian newspaper Seven News: “Teenagers are resourceful and may try to circumvent age guarantee measures to access restricted services.”
But it said: “We are committed to meeting our compliance obligations and are taking the necessary steps to comply with the law.”
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said the ban was aimed at protecting teenagers “from the pressures and risks they may be exposed to while logged into social media accounts”.
In a move apparently to avoid being included in the ban, gaming platform Roblox announced this week that children under 16 would not be able to chat with adult strangers.
Mandatory age checks will be introduced for accounts using chat features, starting in December for Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, and then for the rest of the world from January.
