Australia's ban came into effect on December 10. Photo: NIKOLAS KOKOVLIS / AFP
By Joshua Boscaini, ABC News
More than 500,000 Australian children have been kicked off Facebook and Instagram by Meta to comply with the country's social media ban for under-16s.
The social media giant says it removed 330,000 users from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook and 39,000 from Threads between December 4 and 11.
Australia's ban came into effect on December 10, but Meta began removing underage users a week earlier.
The Albanese government is expected to release data showing how many young Australians were kicked off all the platforms affected by the ban this week.
In an update overnight, Meta claimed the ban was not meeting the Australian government's objectives of increasing the safety and wellbeing of youths.
The US-based company cited concerns the ban has isolated vulnerable teens from getting support in online communities, and that it was driving them to less regulated apps.
It criticised "inconsistent" age verification methods used to validate a user's age, and again chided the intention of the legislation.
"The premise of the law, which prevents under-16-year-olds from holding a social media account so they aren't exposed to an 'algorithmic experience,' is false," Meta said in a blog post.
"Platforms that allow teens to still use them in a logged-out state still use algorithms to determine content the user may be interested in - albeit in a less personalised way that can be appropriately tailored to a person's age."
Meta urges government to chart 'better way forward'
Meta said while it will continue to comply with Australian law, it wants the federal government to engage with industry on a different way forward.
"We call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivising all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans."
The federal government passed the social media minimum age laws in 2024 in an attempt to protect youths from targeted algorithms and harmful content on social media platforms.
Social media companies face fines of up to A$50 million if they do not take "reasonable steps" to restrict under-16-year-olds from holding an account.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Threads and Kick are all included in the social media ban.
But the eSafety Commission, which enforces the age restriction, has warned other social media platforms could be added to the list if found to meet the ban criteria.
There are broad exemptions for platforms where the predominant use is gaming, health and education.
Platforms have a range of methods to verify a user's age, including through government-issued ID, facial age estimation or age inference.
The federal government has been contacted for comment.
- ABC