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A 2025 Australian trial of age assurance technology found products on the âmarket could effectively support a ban [File]
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said on Thursday it had taken âdown more than 750,000 accounts it suspected were held by Australians â aged under 16 since a world-first ban on teen accounts, and promised more action in the face of possible regulatory intervention.
The company said it had deactivated 462,000 suspect Instagram accounts and 294,000 âsuspect Facebook accounts from just before the Australian social media ban went live in December to June, up from 331,000 Instagram accounts and 173,000 Facebook âaccounts it said it had removed by January. The worldâs largest social media âcompany â has said it wants to comply with a law it and â other platforms have vocally opposed, just as Australiaâs internet regulator considers an enforcement lawsuit against platforms, including some that Meta owns, that it says have failed to take sufficient steps to comply with the law.
No other âplatforms have released compliance data âthat matches the date range given by Meta, but Australian government figures and multiple independent studies have shown more than eight in 10 under-16s were still on social media in the banâs first three months.
The Australian government proposed the landmark law, âwhich came into force on December 10, on concerns about social mediaâs impact âon the physical and mental health of children and young teens. With other countries around the world considering similar age-restrictions, Australia has accused the â platforms of intentionally setting the ban up to fail, and has introduced a law to double the maximum penalty for non-compliance to A$99 million ($69.75 million) and give the regulator âgreater document discovery powers.