Meta Blocks 550,000 Accounts Under Australia’s Social Media Ban

In a landmark moment for global digital governance and youth online safety, Meta Platforms Inc. has deactivated nearly 550,000 social media accounts in Australia to comply with the nation’s new under-16 social media ban — a world-first legislative effort to restrict minors’ access to mainstream social platforms.

According to Meta, the block took place during the initial week following the law’s enforcement, spanning multiple flagship services: approximately 330,639 Instagram accounts, 173,497 Facebook accounts, and 39,916 Threads profiles believed to belong to under-16 users were removed. The action reflects Meta’s implementation of age-verification protocols designed to identify and restrict access for Australian users below the statutory age threshold.

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Australia’s Bold Regulatory Move

The ban stems from the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which came into force on December 10, 2025 after a comprehensive legislative process in Canberra. Under the amendment to the Online Safety Act, social platforms operating in Australia are legally required to prevent minors under the age of 16 from holding accounts — or face fines of up to A$49.5 million for non-compliance. Unlike typical age-restriction regimes that rely on voluntary self-regulation or parental controls, Australia’s law mandates full exclusion with no exceptions for parental consent.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has framed the ban as a historic intervention to counter what officials describe as the profound psychological and social harms of early social media exposure. The policy is aimed at reducing algorithm-driven engagement and the subsequent mental health risks associated with prolonged use among children.

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Meta’s Compliance and Contentions

Meta’s compliance with the ban underscores the complex operational challenges facing global tech platforms. In a corporate blog post, Meta reiterated its cooperation with Australian authorities while also voicing concerns over the technical feasibility and broader consequences of the law. The company argues that current age-verification mechanisms are imperfect and that implementing such controls at the operating system or app-store level would yield more robust results. Meta also urged industry-wide collaboration on age verification standards rather than piecemeal legal mandates.

These technical and philosophical disagreements highlight a fundamental tension between regulatory ambition and platform governance. Meta’s executive leadership cautioned that minors may circumvent bans by utilizing VPNs, falsifying information, or gravitating toward less regulated and emerging platforms — a scenario some critics describe as a “whack-a-mole effect.”

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Wider Reactions and Emerging Debates

The sweeping ban has been met with a broad spectrum of reaction. Advocates argue that Australia’s approach could serve as a global standard for protecting children online, inspiring similar reforms in jurisdictions concerned about youth wellbeing. Indeed, European and North American policymakers have been watching the rollout closely, even as they navigate their own legislative thresholds for age restrictions and digital safety standards.

Critics — including civil liberties advocates and some technology experts — caution that blanket prohibitions may isolate vulnerable youth who rely on online communities for social support, particularly those in marginalized groups. They also warn that excluding minors from mainstream platforms does not eliminate their digital footprints but might push them toward less transparent and less safe corners of the internet.

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Global Implications for Digital Policy

Australia’s pioneering law and Meta’s consequential enforcement action represent a defining moment in the evolution of online safety policy. For Meta, this development accelerates its efforts to refine age-verification technologies and adapt compliance frameworks across jurisdictions. For legislators worldwide, Australia’s experiment will provide a powerful case study in balancing youth protection, user freedoms, and technological realities.

As other nations, including the United Kingdom and members of the European Union, consider their own frameworks for regulating youth social media engagement, the ramifications of this first -of-its-kind ban are certain to influence the next chapter of digital policy.

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