SYDNEY: Australians younger than 16 will be removed from Facebook and Instagram on Dec 4, tech giant Meta said Thursday (Nov 20), as Canberra prepares to enforce sweeping laws banning teens from social media.
From Dec 10, Australia will force social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, to remove users under the age of 16 or face hefty fines.
Meta said that it would start removing teenagers from its platforms ahead of the ban coming into force.
“From today, Meta will be notifying Australian users it understands to be aged 13-15 that they will lose access to Instagram, Threads and Facebook,” Meta said in a statement.
“Meta will begin blocking new under-16 accounts and revoking existing access from Dec 4, expecting to remove all known under-16s by Dec 10.”
There are around 350,000 Instagram users aged between 13 to 15 in Australia and around 150,000 Facebook accounts, according to government figures.
Meta has started warning impacted users that they will soon be locked out.
“Soon, you’ll no longer be able to use Facebook and your profile won’t be visible to you or others,” reads a message sent to impacted users.
“When you turn 16, we’ll let you know that you can start using Facebook again.”
Teenagers will be able to access their accounts “exactly as you left it” once they turn 16, Meta told them.
