Millions of Australian social media accounts held by children have been culled since new age limits took effect and safety regulators are now looking “closely” at the data to ensure all platforms are complying.
More than 4.7 million accounts on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat were deactivated in the first two days of the ban that started on December 10, according to new data released by the federal government.
Preliminary analysis by the eSafety Commissioner has found social media companies affected by the new laws have been making “meaningful attempts” to prevent underage users from holding accounts.
The platforms were required to provide the data to eSafety as part of the laws introduced by the Albanese government.
Meta kicks 550,000 children off platforms to comply with social media ban
Earlier this week Meta revealed it removed 330,000 users from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook and 39,000 from Threads between December 4 and 11 last year.
The company remains critical of the age restriction, arguing it has isolated vulnerable teens from support in online communities and driven them to less regulated apps.
“The premise of the law, which prevents under-16-year-olds from holding a social media account so they aren’t exposed to an ‘algorithmic experience’, is false,” Meta said in a blog post.
“Platforms that allow teens to still use them in a logged-out state still use algorithms to determine content the user may be interested in — albeit in a less personalised way that can be appropriately tailored to a person’s age.”
Anthony Albanese says the data is “encouraging”. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Despite the complaints from Meta, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was “encouraging” social media companies were making a “meaningful effort” to comply with laws and keep kids off their platforms.
“Change doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.
“But these early signs show it’s important we’ve acted to make this change.
“We want our kids to have a childhood and parents to know we have their backs.”
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the deactivation numbers from the start of the ban were a “huge achievement”.
“While it’s early, every account deactivated could mean one extra young person with more free time to build their community and identity offline,” she said.
Ms Wells said the government was aware there was “more work to do” and confirmed eSafety was looking “closely” at the data to determine what it showed in relation to individual platforms’ compliance.
“We’ve said from the beginning that we weren’t expecting perfection straight away — but early figures are showing this law is making a real, meaningful difference,” she said.
Anika Wells says the ban has been successful so far, but no-one expected perfection from the start. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Social media companies face fines of up to $50 million if they do not take “reasonable steps” to restrict under-16s from holding an account.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Threads and Kick are all captured by the new law, though eSafety has warned others might be included if they are found to meet the ban criteria.
There are broad exemptions for platforms where the predominant use is gaming, health and education.
Social media companies have a range of methods to verify a user’s age, including through government-issued ID, facial age estimation or age inference.
All must offer at least one alternative to submitting formal ID as a form of age assurance.
Several countries have indicated they are considering following Australia’s world-first laws, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week telling colleagues he was open to the idea.
His comment followed UK Tory leader Kemi Badenoch pledging to raise the “age of consent” if elected.