More than 500,000 Australian children have been removed from Facebook, Instagram and Threads as Meta moves to comply with Australia’s new ban on social media accounts for anyone under the age of sixteen. The company confirmed that between December 4 and 11 it deleted 330,000 Instagram accounts, 173,000 Facebook accounts, and 39,000 Threads accounts belonging to underage users.
The ban officially took effect on December 10, but Meta began enforcement a week earlier. The Albanese government is expected to release its own figures this week showing how many young Australians were removed across all platforms.
In an overnight update, Meta argued that the ban is not achieving the government’s stated goals of improving youth safety and wellbeing. The company warned that the policy is isolating vulnerable teens who rely on online communities for support and is pushing them toward less regulated, potentially riskier apps.
Meta also criticised what it called “inconsistent” age‑verification methods, saying the law’s underlying assumption that banning under‑16s prevents them from being exposed to algorithmic content is flawed. According to Meta, even logged‑out users still see algorithm‑selected posts, just in a less personalised form.
The company said:
“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.”
The debate over the ban continues to intensify, with parents, safety advocates and tech companies sharply divided over whether the policy protects children or inadvertently increases online risks.
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