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Meta said Nov. 19 it had begun warning thousands of young Australians to download their data from their Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts ahead of next month’s social media ban for users under 16.
The Australian government said earlier this month that the three Meta platforms, plus Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, and Kick, must take reasonable steps to exclude Australian account holders younger than 16, beginning Dec. 10.
Meta said that from Dec. 4, it would start deactivating the accounts and blocking new sign-ups by anyone under 16.
Meta’s action made it the first company to take steps to enforce the incoming ban, having previously said, along with other social media firms, that it would not move to deactivate accounts until the ban came into force.
“We will start notifying impacted teens today to give them the opportunity to save their contacts and memories,” Meta said in a Nov. 19 blog post on Medium.
It added that young users could also use the notice period to update their contact information, so the company could get in touch and help them regain access once they turn 16.
Account holders who are 16 years old and older and were mistakenly given notice of exclusion can contact third-party partner Yoti to verify their age by providing government-issued identity documents or a video selfie, Meta said.
While the company said that it was committed to meeting its obligations in relation to the law, it also warned that “teens are resourceful, and may attempt to circumvent age assurance measures to access restricted services.”
“Realistically, we can only do so much to determine age without requiring everyone to provide a government ID — which isn’t safe, poses significant privacy risks, and could lead to identity theft,” Meta added.
According to Australia’s internet regulator, there are about 153,000 Facebook monthly active users aged between 13 and 15 in Australia, and about 350,000 monthly active users of Instagram aged between 13 and 15. The regulator did not publish similar data for Threads.
The total population of Australia is about 27.5 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“While we’re committed to meeting our legal obligations, we’ve consistently raised concerns about this law,” a Meta spokesperson told The Epoch Times. “Experts, youth groups, and many parents agree that blanket bans are not the solution—they isolate teens from online communities and information, while providing inconsistent protection across the many apps they use.”
The spokesperson added that there was a better way to ensure online safety for children, suggesting “legislation that empowers parents to approve app downloads and verify age allows families—not the government—to decide which apps teens can access.”
Social media apps are displayed on a phone screen in a photo illustration on Dec. 1, 2024. Roni Bintang/Getty Images
The ban, passed into law in November 2024, aims to prevent teenagers from setting up social media accounts until they are 16, which is three years older than the current age of 13.
It will make platforms liable for fines of up to AU$50 million (US$32.6 million) for failing to prevent children below that age threshold from holding accounts.
Digital rights groups have said that age verification for online content raises major concerns about privacy, data protection, and proportionality.
Digital Rights Watch said in September that a social media ban could harm children rather than help them.
“A simple ban of young people from social media will harm them. Young people, especially those in a minority group or remote areas of Australia, depend on the internet and social media to reach ’their people,'” Digital Rights Watch told an Australian Senate inquiry.
“Instead of an outright ban, we should focus our efforts on better regulation of social media algorithms and the targeting of content to drive advertising revenue, which would make children safer without restricting their ability to participate in society.”
Tech firms themselves also objected. Google told a Senate inquiry on Oct. 13 that the ban would be “extremely difficult to enforce,” and could end up making children less safe online.
Other countries are considering similar actions, with Denmark announcing in October that it would move to restrict social media for teenagers.
Denmark’s Scandinavian neighbor, Norway, has also set the wheels in motion to limit access to social media for those aged 15 and under, beginning a consultation process on a new law in January.
In September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned during her State of the Union address in Strasbourg that she was also monitoring developments in Australia concerning the ban.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in June that he would push for the European Union to ban social media for children under the age of 15, adding that if Brussels could not be moved to implement such a ban, he would institute one in France.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
