Meta starts deleting accounts of teenagers in Australia

On December 4, Meta started the process of removing accounts of Australian teens under the age of 16 from its platforms. This move comes as part of Meta's efforts to comply with Australia's newly introduced law aimed at restricting children from accessing social media before the age of 16. While the law is set to officially take effect on December 10, Meta has already begun deactivating Facebook and Instagram accounts of users under 16, as well as blocking new users in this age group.

The new regulation also impacts other platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, X, Snapchat, Kick, and Reddit. According to Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety Commissioner, around 150,000 Facebook accounts and 350,000 Instagram accounts in Australia are owned by children between the ages of 13 and 15.

A Meta representative explained, We are actively working to remove all users under the age of 16 by the December 10 deadline. However, compliance with the law will be an ongoing process involving multiple steps. The spokesperson also clarified that users under 16 would still be able to save and download their digital history from Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. Before they turn 16, these users will be notified about regaining access to their accounts, with all their content being restored as it was prior to the removal.

In response to the ban, two teenagers, supported by the Digital Freedom Project, are challenging the law in the Australian Supreme Court. John Ruddick, president of the Digital Freedom Project, argued that the law was excessive and unfairly shifted the responsibility for managing children's access to social media onto the government and unelected officials.

Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells defended the ban, stating that it would help protect young teens. She highlighted the dangers of "predatory algorithms," which have been described as behavioral cocaine by the feature's creator. Minister Wells further mentioned that the government is monitoring lesser-known platforms like Lemon8 and Yope to determine if young teens are migrating to those services.

Julie Inman Grant has already reached out to Lemon8 and Yope to ask them to self-assess their platforms' compliance with the new regulation. Yopes CEO, Bahram Ismailau, responded that he had not received any inquiry but confirmed that the company had already conducted its own assessment. According to Ismailau, Yope does not fall under the social media ban as it functions solely as a private messaging platform with no public content.

Author: Noah Whitman