Underage Account Removal
Meta removes 750,000 underage Australian accounts as age ban enforcement continues and legal action looms
Key Points
Meta's deactivation figures show growth from 331,000 Instagram and 173,000 Facebook accounts as of January to 462,000 Instagram and 294,000 Facebook by June, bringing the total to more than 750,000 accounts removed.
Australia’s regulator ACMA is preparing to launch an enforcement lawsuit against several platforms for allegedly not meeting their age-targeting obligations.
The government has doubled the maximum penalty to A$99 million and expanded regulator powers, including document discovery, to pursue non-compliance with the age-restriction law.
Parliamentary inquiries are planned to hear from Meta and other platforms about compliance, with evidence sessions noted for August 14.
Some government and independent assessments contend that platforms intentionally set the ban up to fail, highlighting tensions over the effectiveness of age-verification approaches.
Meta has removed more than 750,000 Instagram and Facebook accounts in Australia believed to belong to users under 16, since the country's world-first social media age ban took effect in December, according to LBC. The figures include roughly 462,000 Instagram profiles and 294,000 Facebook accounts, and Meta says the numbers will keep rising as enforcement continues.
Despite the removals, Australian authorities say about eight in ten under-16s remained active on social media during the ban's early months, raising serious questions about whether the law is working, Storyboard18 reported.
How Meta's Removal Numbers Grew Over Six Months
Meta's crackdown has grown steadily since the ban launched. As of January, the company had removed 331,000 Instagram accounts and 173,000 Facebook accounts. By June, those figures had climbed to 462,000 and 294,000, bringing the total past 750,000, according to SL Guardian.
Meta says it uses AI tools and contextual signals to spot underage users. The company also closed a loophole that let teens create new accounts after deletion. Meta says it remains committed to meeting its legal obligations under Australian law.
Australia Threatens Lawsuits and Doubles Maximum Fines
Australia's regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), is preparing to sue several platforms for allegedly failing to meet age-targeting rules, LBC reported. The government has also doubled the maximum penalty for non-compliance to A$99 million.
New powers given to regulators include document discovery — the ability to demand internal records from platforms. Parliamentary hearings are planned, with evidence sessions scheduled for August 14, where Meta and other platforms will face questions about how they are complying with the ban.
Critics Say Platforms Set the Ban Up to Fail
Not everyone believes Meta is acting in good faith. Some government officials and independent researchers argue that platforms deliberately made compliance difficult, effectively setting the ban up to fail, according to Storyboard18. The tension highlights a deeper dispute over whether age-verification technology can ever truly work at scale.
Australia introduced the age ban partly in response to growing concern about the mental health impact of social media on young people. Meta has publicly opposed parts of the law but says it is working to meet its requirements. The company's next compliance update is expected to show further account removals.
World Watches as Australia Tests Age-Verification at Scale
Australia is the first country to impose a hard social media ban on under-16s, making its enforcement efforts a test case for governments around the world. Other nations are closely watching whether a large democracy can actually stop teenagers from accessing platforms like Instagram and Facebook, Head Topics reported.
So far, the results are mixed. Meta has removed hundreds of thousands of accounts, but the majority of affected teens appear to still be online. The coming months — and the looming lawsuits — will determine whether Australia's bold experiment becomes a model or a warning.
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