Meta Blocks 750,000 Teen Accounts in Australia

Meta Platforms Inc. has blocked over 750,000 accounts on Instagram and Facebook belonging to users under the age of 16, as part of its compliance with Australian legislation restricting social media use by minors. Of these, 462,000 accounts were closed on Instagram and 294,000 on Facebook. Artificial intelligence algorithms and age verification methods are used to identify violators. Despite these measures, the Australian online safety regulator reported that the proportion of teenagers under 16 using social media has only slightly decreased—from 85.9% to 81.5% in the first three months since the law took effect. Approximately 38% of children aged 10 to 15 with Instagram accounts continued to use the platform without age verification, while this figure for Facebook stands at 28%. Meta continues the verification process, and the number of deleted accounts is expected to rise. The Australian experience may set a precedent for more than two dozen countries considering similar restrictions.

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