Meta says it has removed more than 756,000 accounts it suspected belonged to Australians under 16, but the scale of the crackdown has not stopped questions about whether the country’s landmark social media ban is actually keeping teenagers off the platforms.
The Facebook and Instagram owner said on Thursday that it had deactivated 462,000 suspected underage Instagram accounts and 294,000 Facebook accounts between December and June. The figures have risen sharply from January, when Meta said it had removed 331,000 Instagram accounts and 173,000 Facebook accounts.
Australia’s world-first ban on social media accounts for children under 16 came into force on 10 December. The government introduced it over concerns about the effect of social media on children’s physical and mental wellbeing.
Meta has opposed the restrictions but says it is complying with the law.
The company is now facing a tougher test as Australia’s internet regulator considers legal action against platforms it believes have not done enough to enforce the rules.
And despite the hundreds of thousands of account removals, there is evidence that the ban has not kept most teenagers away from social media.
Government figures and several independent studies found that more than eight in 10 under-16s were still using social media during the first three months after the restrictions began.
Meta says its enforcement is continuing.
“Enforcement is ongoing, and these numbers will continue to grow,” the company said, adding that it shares the government’s goal of providing young people with safer, age-appropriate online experiences.
The company says it uses age-assurance technology and analyses activity on accounts for clues that a user may be under 16. Those clues can include references to school grades, birthday celebrations and other information in profiles.
It also looks at reports from users about suspected underage accounts.
But the scale of the problem has left Australia facing a difficult question: how do you enforce an age restriction when teenagers can potentially create new accounts or find ways around the checks?
That question will come into sharper focus on Friday when representatives from Meta, TikTok, Google-owned YouTube and Snapchat are due to appear before a parliamentary inquiry.
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The government is also proposing to increase the maximum penalty for companies that fail to comply to A$99m ($69.75m), while giving the regulator greater powers to obtain documents.
For Meta, the latest figures show the company is taking the restrictions seriously. For Australian authorities, they may also show just how difficult it is to keep young people away from social media in practice.
