Meta removes people under 16 from Instagram and Facebook under new law

These days, young Australians under the age of 16 are faced with a blank profile page when they try to log into Instagram or Facebook.

Meta has started shutting down their accounts, even though the country’s new social media ban doesn’t come into effect until December 10.

The measure affects Instagram, Facebook and Threads. As of Thursday, Meta also stopped the creation of new accounts for users under the age of 16 in Australia, so that the lower limit is in place when the ban comes into effect.

The platform has already identified a large group of young users who are just under the new age limit.

According to The Guardian, there are around 150,000 Facebook profiles and 350,000 Instagram accounts that the platform estimates belong to 13- to 15-year-olds.

A spokesperson for Meta says that the company is working to remove all users considered to be under the age of 16 by December 10.

The work doesn’t stop there. Meta describes compliance with the law as an ongoing, multi-step process of checking both existing and new accounts.

Young people do not lose everything they have posted. According to Meta, users under the age of 16 can continue to save and download their digital history on Instagram, Facebook and Threads.

The spokesperson also promises that they will be notified before they can return to the platforms when they turn 16. Their content will also be restored as they left it.

Law with fines in the millions

Australia becomes the first country in the world to ban young people under the age of 16 from having an account on the largest social media platforms.

The law comes into force on December 10 and covers Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and YouTube.

If the platforms don’t take what the authorities call reasonable steps to follow the rules, heavy fines await.

The fine is up to A$49.5 million, approximately $208 million, for companies that don’t comply with the requirements to keep children off their services.

Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has already announced that the authorities will closely monitor developments after December 10.

She suggests a graduated approach, where the authorities will target the platforms with the most underage users.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that a child having an account after December 10 means that the platform has broken the law.

She also emphasized that it will take time for all existing accounts to be sorted and that all attempts to create new accounts by children will be caught.

Dispute over liability and security

Meta has made it clear that it is against the ban itself. The tech giant believes that the responsibility for age verification should not lie with the individual apps, but with the app stores:

– Authorities should require app stores to verify the age of children and obtain parental consent when teenagers under the age of 16 download apps.

YouTube has also distanced itself from the Australian policy. The service believes that the law could make young people less safe because they can still visit YouTube without being logged in.

According to YouTube, some of the security filters disappear when young people watch videos without an account.

The authorities reject this logic. Anika Wells calls the argument absurd and points out that it is YouTube’s job to ensure that age-restricted content is not available to children.

She believes that the platforms already have the tools to control what younger users encounter.

Most companies have chosen to comply with the ban, and all the aforementioned services, apart from X and Reddit, have announced that they will comply with the ban.