{"id":46774,"date":"2026-01-12T11:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/meta-deletes-550000-accounts-as-australia-enforces-child-social-media-ban\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:35:17","slug":"meta-deletes-550000-accounts-as-australia-enforces-child-social-media-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/meta-deletes-550000-accounts-as-australia-enforces-child-social-media-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta deletes 550,000 accounts as Australia enforces child social media ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Meta Platforms Inc. said it has removed almost 550,000 accounts in Australia to comply with the new rules. The action covers multiple Meta-owned platforms and was disclosed in a company blog post<\/a> outlining its initial response to the legislation.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s decision to bar children from mainstream social media is moving from legislation to large-scale enforcement. <\/p>\n

Less than a month after the law came into force, the impact is already visible across major platforms operating in the country.<\/p>\n

Meta said it removed about 330,000 under-16 users from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 39,000 from Threads between December 4 and December 11. <\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s minimum age ban formally took effect on December 10, though Meta began enforcement a week earlier.<\/p>\n

The Albanese government is expected to publish data this week showing how many young Australians were removed across all affected platforms.<\/p>\n

Meta questions effectiveness of the ban<\/h2>\n

In an update released overnight, Meta argued that the ban was not achieving the government\u2019s stated aim of improving youth safety and wellbeing. <\/p>\n

The US-based company said the policy risks isolating vulnerable teenagers and pushing them toward less regulated online spaces.<\/p>\n

Meta also criticised the age-verification approaches being used to enforce the law, describing them as inconsistent. <\/p>\n

The company questioned the underlying rationale of the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe premise of the law, which prevents under-16-year-olds from holding a social media account so they aren’t exposed to an ‘algorithmic experience,’ is false,\u201d Meta said in a blog post.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlatforms that allow teens to still use them in a logged-out state still use algorithms to determine content the user may be interested in – albeit in a less personalised way that can be appropriately tailored to a person’s age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite its objections, Meta said it would continue to comply with Australian law.<\/p>\n

Government aims and regulatory penalties<\/h2>\n

Australia passed its social media minimum age laws in 2024, positioning itself as one of the world\u2019s most aggressive regulators of youth access to social platforms. <\/p>\n

The legislation is designed to shield children from targeted algorithms and harmful content.<\/p>\n

Under the law, companies face fines of up to A$50 million if they fail to take \u201creasonable steps\u201d to prevent under-16-year-olds from holding accounts. <\/p>\n

The rules apply to a broad list of platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Threads, and Kick.<\/p>\n

The eSafety Commission, which oversees enforcement, has warned that additional platforms could be added if they meet the criteria for inclusion. <\/p>\n

However, the framework includes exemptions for services where gaming, health, or education is the predominant use.<\/p>\n

Platforms can adopt a range of methods to verify users\u2019 ages, including government-issued identification, facial age estimation, and age inference technologies.<\/p>\n

Meta urged the Australian government to work more closely with technology companies on alternative solutions rather than relying on blanket bans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivising all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Meta deletes 550,000 accounts as Australia enforces child social media ban<\/a> appeared first on Invezz<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meta Platforms Inc. said it has removed almost 550,000 accounts in Australia to comply with the new rules. The action covers multiple Meta-owned platforms and was disclosed in a company blog post outlining its initial response to the legislation. Australia\u2019s decision to bar children from mainstream social media is moving from legislation to large-scale enforcement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}