Meta deactivates over half a million under-16 accounts in Australia
The company calls on the government to engage with industry “constructively,” instead of imposing “blanket bans.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it deactivated 544,052 accounts believed to have been held by users under the age of 16 in Australia following the country’s social media ban.
On December 10, Australia became the first country to implement a ban on social media for children under 16. With the ban in effect, young people are prohibited from using or maintaining profiles on major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and others.
In a blog post on Sunday, Meta said between December 4 and 11, it deactivated 330,639 Instagram accounts, 173,497 on Facebook, and 39,916 on Threads.
“We 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 online experiences, instead of blanket bans,” the statement said.
The tech giant underlined that it is committed to complying with the law, while noting that its “concerns about determining age online without an industry standard remain.”
‘Protecting’ young Australians
From December 10, 2025, Australian law requires major social media platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent users under the age of 16 from having accounts.
The government says the aim is not to punish young people, but to protect them from features that encourage excessive screen time, manipulative design, and exposure to harmful content — giving them more time to develop emotional and digital resilience.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the list of age-restricted platforms would evolve with new technologies.
Inman Grant said she would work with academics to evaluate the impacts of the ban, including whether children sleep or interact more or become more physically active.
Officials say platforms have failed to adequately shield minors from violent material, harassment and addictive design features.
Supporters of the ban argue that stricter age limits are necessary to curb risks to children’s wellbeing, even as critics warn of unintended consequences for creators and the broader digital economy.