Meta Starts Kicking Australian Children Off Instagram and Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta on Thursday began deactivating the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Australian users under the age of 16 ahead of next week’s social media ban.
Australia has adopted a new law in 2024, requiring major social media platforms to block anyone under the age of 16 from accessing their services or face hefty multi-million dollar fines for the platforms. The law will come into force on Wednesday December 10.
Like Breitbart News reported In November, Meta began informing Australian users aged 13 to 15 that their accounts would soon be terminated by the company, in accordance with the country’s new law.
Both Tutor and the BBC reported that the company began the account deactivation process on Thursday ahead of next week’s deadline.
“While we work hard to remove all users who we determine are under the age of 16 by December 10, compliance with the law will be an ongoing, multi-tiered process,” a Meta spokesperson said. Tutor.
“If you are under 16, you can still maintain and download your digital history on Instagram, Threads and Facebook,” the spokesperson explained. “Before you turn 16, we will notify you that you will soon be allowed to regain access to these platforms and that your content will be restored exactly as you left it.”
It is estimated that there were around 150,000 Facebook accounts and 350,000 Instagram accounts held by Australian users aged 13 to 15 as of February. THE Tutor noted that the ban also affects Meta’s microblogging service, Threads, which requires an Instagram account to use.
Other non-Meta social networks and video streaming platforms affected by the upcoming law include X, TikTok, Youtube, Reddit, Snapchat, Kick and Twitch.
Teens who believe they have been wrongly blocked from accessing social media can request a “screening,” which involves submitting a “selfie video” to verify their age or providing a driver’s license or government-issued ID card.
“With one law, we can stop Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory by the predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature as behavioral cocaine,” Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells was quoted as saying on Wednesday, and stressed that she expects “teething problems” in the first days and weeks of the law’s implementation.
Julie Inman Grant, Australian Electronic Security Commissioner would have described the upcoming law as a “first domino”, saying other countries would follow Australia in implementing similar legislation.
“We have reached a tipping point,” Inman Grant reportedly said at a cyber summit Thursday in Sydney.
“Our data is the currency that fuels these companies, and there are powerful, harmful, and deceptive design features that even adults are powerless against. What chance do our children have?” She continued.
Meta provided a statement to Breitbart News in November explaining that while it was committed to upholding its legal obligations, it had raised concerns about the law.
“There is a better solution: Legislation that allows parents to approve app downloads and verify age lets families (not the government) decide which apps teens can access,” a Meta spokesperson told Breitbart News.
