Meta starts kicking Australian children off Instagram and Facebook

Meta has begun removing Australian children under the age of 16 from its Instagram, Facebook and Threads platforms a week before the official youth social media ban begins.

The tech giant announced last month that it had begun notifying users aged 13 to 15 that their accounts would be closed starting December 4.

An estimated 150,000 Facebook users and 350,000 Instagram accounts are affected. Threads is similar to X and can only be accessed through an Instagram account.

Australia’s world’s first social media ban will come into effect on December 10, with companies facing fines of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million, £25 million) if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s from having accounts.

A spokesman for Meta told the BBC on Thursday that “compliance with the law will be an ongoing, multi-layered process”.

“While Meta is committed to complying with the law, we believe a more efficient, standardized and privacy-protecting approach is needed,” she said.

Meta said the government should require app stores to verify the age of users when downloading apps and seek parental approval for children under 16, as this would eliminate the need for teenagers to verify their age across different apps.

Last month, Meta said users it identified as under 16 would be able to download and save their posts, videos and messages before their accounts were deactivated.

Teens who believe they have been misclassified as under 16 can request a review and submit a “video selfie” to verify their age. They can also provide a driver’s license or government-issued identification.

In addition to Meta’s three platforms, other social media sites affected by the ban include YouTube, X, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick and Twitch.

The government says the ban is intended to protect children from the harms of social media, but critics say the move could isolate certain groups who rely on the platforms for connection and push children into less regulated corners of the internet.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Wednesday She expects problems with teething The ban was in its early days and weeks, but it was to protect Gen Alpha – anyone under the age of 15 – and future generations.

“By passing a law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being dragged into purgatory by predatory algorithms Described by the person who created the feature It’s like behavioral cocaine,” Wells said.

She described young people as being connected to a “dopamine drip” from the moment they have smartphones and social media accounts.

Wells also said she was keeping a close eye on lesser-known apps like Lemon8 (created by the makers behind TikTok) and Yope to see if children would migrate to those platforms after the ban.

Earlier this week, Australia’s Electronic Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant wrote to Lemon8 and Yope – both video and photo sharing apps – asking them to self-assess whether they fall within the scope of the ban.

Yope CEO and co-founder Bahram Ismailau said the startup has not received any inquiries from Inman Grant but has conducted a self-assessment and found it is not a social media platform.

“Because in practice, Yope functions as a completely private messenger with nothing public at all,” he told the BBC.

Mr Ismailo said Yope works much like WhatsApp in that it is about “meeting the people you have every day and sharing your life with them securely and privately”.

Lemon8 reportedly said it would exclude teenagers under the age of 16 from its platform starting next week, although the teen was not included in the ban.

YouTube, which was initially exempt from the ban but was later included, called the law “rushed” and claimed that banning children from having accounts with parental controls would make its video-sharing platform “less secure.”

Australia’s social media ban is the first of its kind in the world and is being closely watched by global leaders.

A government-commissioned study earlier this year found 96 per cent of Australian children aged 10-15 use social media, with seven in 10 exposed to harmful content, such as misogynistic and violent content and content promoting eating disorders and suicide.

One in seven people also reported experiencing grooming behavior by an adult or older child, and more than half said they had been a victim of cyberbullying.