Meta Deletes 500,000 Under-16 User Accounts in Australia in Social Media Ban

Australia officially enforced an under-16 social media ban in December 2025. Within weeks, all major platforms have started removing accounts to comply with the new law.

According to reports, Meta removed access to almost 550,000 accounts that it identified as belonging to kids under 16. In fact, most of these removals took place between Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, shortly before the law actually took effect.

What the law requires

Australia’s Online Safety Amendment Act 2024 became active starting on Dec. 11, 2025, and prohibits children under 16 from having accounts on any social network.

Meta removed access across Instagram, Facebook and Threads and blocked the creation of new accounts for users under the age of 16. The company also started to notify affected users in advance. This is important because it gave them time to download personal data such as contacts and photos.

According to Meta’s published figures, the removals broke down as follows:

• Instagram: 330,639 accounts
• Facebook: 173,497 accounts
• Threads: 39,916 accounts

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 focuses on account ownership rather than internet access itself. As a result, it changes how teens interact with platforms rather than whether they access online content at all.

The idea is very simple:

“Providers of certain kinds of social media platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent children who have not reached a minimum age from having account,” the Act states.

Meta says the Act raises new problems

Meta continues to advocate for age verification and parental approval at the app store level rather than on individual platforms.

The company argues that experts have raised concerns regarding new dangers the kids will be exposed to: 

• Isolation of vulnerable teens from getting support from online communities;
• Teens driven to less regulated apps and parts of the internet, as has been noted by increases in downloads in alternative apps;
• Inconsistent age verification methods across industry and challenges with “natural error margins” at the age-16 boundary;
• Little interest in compliance from many teens and parents

Meta has said it will continue complying with the law, and Google, TikTok, Snapchat and many others confirmed they are following suit. The only one that seems to be putting up a fight is Reddit. The company filed a lawsuit to overturn the ban.

FAQ: Australia’s under-16 social media ban

How many teen accounts did Meta remove?
Meta removed access to approximately 544,000 under-16 accounts.

Can under-16s still use Messenger?
Yes. Messenger is not covered by the ban and remains accessible to under-16 users.

What alternative enforcement model does Meta support?
Meta supports age verification and parental approval at the app store level.

Are other companies restricting access?
Yes, Google, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and many others have complies with the new law.