Meta has started to shut down the social media accounts of under-16s in Australia, several days before the country’s social media ban officially comes into effect.
The ban comes into force on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, and is seen as a “world-first.” 10 social media giants, including YouTube, X, Snapchat, and TikTok, will be impacted, and anyone who is estimated to be under 16 will have their account deleted or deactivated.
Meta has already commenced the shutting down of accounts on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook – with at least 500,000 accounts expected to be affected.
In November, Meta said it had started notifying users aged 13-15 that their accounts would be shut down from December 4, and gave them the opportunity to download and save their data. Meta has also blocked the creation of new accounts for anyone under 16.
Reported by The Guardian and Al-Jazeera, a Meta spokesperson said it was “working hard” to remove users, but “compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multilayered process.”
Meta confirmed that children will be able to regain access to accounts, including all their content, once they turn 16.
Affected social media platforms
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- X (Twitter)
- YouTube
- Twitch
- Kick
- Threads
Platforms who fail to implement “reasonable steps” to prevent children from having social media accounts could face fines of up to AU$49.5 million (~$32 million). There will be no penalties for under-16s who access an age-restricted social media platform.
Meta has identified those it believes to be underage, but anyone who has been mistakenly identified as such can ask for a review and complete age verification checks.
Which age verification checks are used has been left up to the individual social media platforms. Meta users can upload a video selfie, driver’s license, or government-issued ID, with the age verification process being handled by UK-based firm Yoti.
(Image credit: Jajah-sireenut / Getty Images)
More harm than good?
As with age verification laws imposed in the UK and US, critics argue checks will have a negative effect on personal privacy, and data collection leads to increased cybersecurity risks.
Meta has argued age checks should be completed at an app store level. Apps could only be downloaded once a user has been verified as over 16, and this would mean verification wouldn’t need to be completed on every app.
Children may turn to VPNs in an attempt to bypass the social media ban. Free VPNs would likely be their first port of call, and there is a risk they may download harmful applications which collect and monetise their data.
When it comes to free VPNs, only the best free VPNs can be considered 100% safe to use. They invariably lack premium features, but offer high levels of encryption and genuine privacy.
Tom Sulston, Head of Policy at Australia-based Digital Rights Watch, is one of those who is worried about children turning to potentially harmful free VPNs. He said some free VPNs will be “monetising” children by “monitoring their online activity.” Sulston added that this would open up children “to even more harms than if they didn’t need to use a VPN in the first place.”
Social media companies have been told to try and stop children from using VPNs to bypass bans, but how this would work is unclear. Any attack on VPNs could have wider privacy implications for all Australians.
The Australian government has said it is “protecting young Australians at a critical stage of their development,” and its actions should be seen as “a delay to having accounts” rather than a ban.
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