Ahead of the 10 December deadline for companies to comply with the under-16s social media ban in Australia, two giants in that space, Facebook and Instagram, have already begun to shut down accounts belonging to users under the age of 16.
Both platforms are owned by Meta, which notified users last month of its intent to start the shutdown on 4 December.
According to The Guardian, Meta also plans to block the creation of new accounts by under-16s in the country.
“While we are working hard to remove all users who we understand to be under the age of 16 by 10 December, compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multilayered process,” a Meta spokesperson said.
As reported by ABC.net.au, an amendment to the Online Safety Act in November 2024 forces some (but not all) social media companies to prevent (or try to prevent) under-16s from holding an account on their platforms (but not from using them).
So, what platforms are part of the ban?
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- X
- YouTube
- Twitch
- Kick
- Threads
What the Australian government says
According to ABC.net.au, Anika Wells, Australia’s communications minister said that if a child has a social media account on 10 December “then that platform is breaking the law”, but acknowledged it would take time for “the age assurance sieve” to filter out existing accounts and stop new accounts being created.
The South African reported in 2024 that Australian lawmakers passed landmark rules to ban under-16s from social media, approving one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on popular sites like Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).