Social media companies have collectively deactivated nearly five million accounts belonging to Australian teenagers within a month of the country’s world-first ban on under-16s taking effect, highlighting the swift and far-reaching impact of the new regulation.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner said social media platforms have so far removed around 4.7 million accounts held by users under the age of 16 to comply with the law, which came into force on December 10. Several major social media platforms had already begun shutting down affected accounts in the weeks leading up to the deadline.
The figures mark the first official government data on compliance and suggest that social media companies are taking significant steps to adhere to the legislation. Under the law, platforms can face fines of up to A$49.5 million for non-compliance, while children and their parents are not subject to penalties.
The scale of account removals is far higher than estimates circulated before the ban and equates to more than two accounts for every Australian aged between 10 and 16, based on population data. Meta previously disclosed that it had taken down about 550,000 underage accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads as part of its compliance efforts.
The minimum age requirement applies across major platforms, including Google’s YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. Reddit has said it is complying with the rules but is also pursuing legal action against the Australian government in an effort to overturn the ban. The government has stated it will defend the legislation.
“It is clear that eSafety’s regulatory guidance and engagement with platforms is already delivering significant outcomes,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a news statement. She cautioned, however, that some underage accounts remain active and that it is too early to declare full compliance across the sector. All companies initially covered by the ban have said they intend to comply.
Julie Inman Grant noted that effective age-verification systems would take time to fully establish, but feedback from age-assurance providers suggested the rollout in Australia had been smooth. These providers, typically third-party software vendors hired by platforms, benefited from extensive public education campaigns ahead of the ban’s implementation.
The regulator also observed a short-term surge in downloads of smaller social media applications in Australia ahead of the December rollout. However, eSafety said these initial spikes had not translated into sustained user engagement. The agency added that it would continue to monitor potential migration trends among young users.
To assess the broader implications of the policy, a long-term study involving mental health experts will track the ban’s impact over several years. The findings are expected to play a key role in evaluating whether the restrictions improve online safety and wellbeing for children and teenagers in Australia, while also informing future digital regulation efforts globally.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
