Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta began deactivating the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Australian users under the age of 16 on Thursday ahead of next week’s social media ban.
Australia passed a new Law In 2024 it will force major social media platforms to block anyone under the age of 16 from accessing their services under huge fines of several million dollars for the platforms. This law will come into effect from Wednesday, December 10.
As Breitbart News informed In November, Meta began informing Australian users aged 13–15 that their accounts would soon be closed by the company in compliance with the country’s new law.
Both Guardian and this BBC It was reported that the company started the process of deactivating the account on Thursday ahead of next week’s deadline.
“While we are working hard to remove all users under the age of 16 by December 10, compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multi-step process,” a Meta spokesperson said. Guardian,
“If you’re under 16, you can still preserve 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 your content will be restored exactly as you left it.”
It has reportedly been estimated that Australian users aged between 13 and 15 had approximately 150,000 Facebook accounts and 350,000 Instagram accounts as of February. Guardian noted that the ban also affects Meta’s microblogging service Threads, which requires an Instagram account to use.
Other non-meta social media and video streaming platforms affected by the upcoming legislation include Xx, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Snapchat, Kik, and Twitch.
Teens who believe they have been mistakenly blocked from accessing social media may seek “review”, which involves submitting a “video selfie” to verify their age or providing a driver’s license or government-issued identification card.
“With a law, we can save Generation Alpha from being led into purgatory by the predatory algorithms described by the man who wrote the feature as behavioral cocaine,” Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells reportedly said on Wednesday.
Australia’s e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant Allegedly described the upcoming legislation as “the first domino”, suggesting that other countries would follow Australia in enacting similar legislation.
“We have reached a tipping point,” Inman Grant reportedly said at a cyber summit in Sydney on Thursday.
“Our data is the currency that fuels these companies, and it has such powerful, harmful, deceptive design features that even adults are powerless to fight it. What chance do our kids have?” He continued.
Meta provided a statement to Breitbart News in November stating that while it is committed to meeting its legal obligations, it has raised concerns about the law.
A Meta spokesperson told Breitbart News, “There is a better way: laws that give parents the right to approve app downloads and verify age allow families — not the government — to decide which apps teens can use.”
