Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, has started notifying Australian users aged between 13 and 15 that their accounts will be shut down before the country’s upcoming social media ban for teens under the age of 16 takes effect in December.
BBC News reports that in a move described by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “world-leading,” Australia is set to implement a social media ban for users under the age of 16 on December 10. The ban will affect several popular platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Reddit. The aim of the ban, according to Albanese, is to “let kids be kids.”
Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, has already begun the process of notifying young Australian users about the impending account deactivations. The company estimates that there are approximately 150,000 Facebook users and 350,000 Instagram users in the 13-15 age bracket who will be affected by the ban.
Starting from December 4, children under the age of 16 will no longer be able to create new accounts on Meta’s social media platforms. The company is asking young users to update their contact details so they can be informed when they become eligible to open an account in the future. Users will also have the opportunity to download and save their posts, videos, and messages before their accounts are permanently shut down.
In a statement provided to Breitbart News, a Meta spokesperson wrote:
To comply with Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Law, teens under 16 will begin losing access to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads next month. While we’re committed to meeting our legal obligations, we’ve consistently raised concerns about this law. Experts, youth groups, and many parents agree that blanket bans are not the solution—they isolate teens from online communities and information, while providing inconsistent protection across the many apps they use. There’s a better way: legislation that empowers parents to approve app downloads and verify age allows families—not the government—to decide which apps teens can access.
Meta has stated that teens who believe they are old enough to use Instagram, Facebook, and Threads can challenge the restriction by submitting a “video selfie” for facial age scans or by providing a driver’s license or other government-issued ID. These verification methods were tested earlier this year by the UK-based Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) in a report commissioned by the Australian government. However, the ACCS noted that while all methods had their merits, there was no single solution that would suit all use cases or be guaranteed effective in all deployments.
Australia’s e-Safety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, emphasized that the ban is aimed at protecting teens from the pressures and risks they may encounter while using social media accounts. The move has prompted other platforms, such as gaming platform Roblox, to introduce mandatory age checks and restrict chat features for users under the age of 16 in order to avoid being included in the ban.
Read more at BBC News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
