Tech giant Meta has urged the Australian government to reconsider its world-first ban on social media use for children under 16, even as it reported blocking more than 544,000 accounts under the new law, AFP reported.
The legislation, which came into effect on December 10 last year, requires major platforms such as Meta, TikTok and YouTube to prevent underage users from maintaining accounts. Companies that fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply face penalties of up to Aus$49.5 million (US$33 million).
Meta said it removed around 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook and 40,000 from Threads in the week leading up to December 11, adding that it remains committed to complying with the law.
However, the company called on the government to work more closely with the industry to develop alternative approaches, arguing that incentives to improve age-appropriate, privacy-preserving online experiences would be more effective than blanket bans.
Meta reiterated its proposal that app stores be mandated to verify users’ ages and require parental consent before allowing under-16s to download apps, saying this would prevent teenagers from simply shifting to new platforms to bypass restrictions.
The company also said parents and experts have raised concerns that the ban could isolate young people from online communities and push them toward less regulated platforms and riskier areas of the internet.
