New Law: Meta starts removing Australian children from Institute and Facebook

The technology giant announced last month that it has started sending reports to users aged 13 to 15 that their accounts would begin to close by December 4th.

An estimated 150,000 Facebook users and 350,000 Instagram accounts are expected to be affected. Three, similar to X, can only be accessible through an Instagram account.

The world's first ban on social networks in Australia begins on December 10th, with companies facing fines of up to $49.5m (33 million U.S., 25 million pounds) if they don't get reasonable “measures to stop sub-16-year-olds from having an account.

A Meta spokeswoman told the BBC on Thursday that “respect of the law will be a continuous and multi-partial process”.

“While Meta is committed to respecting the law, we believe that a more effective, standardised approach is needed and that preserves privacy”, she said.

The government should demand that app stores verify the age of users when they download apps and request parental approval for sub-16 years, Meta said, as this would eliminate the need for teenagers to verify their age on different apps.

Last month, Meta said users who identified them as under 16 could download and preserve their posts, videos and messages before their accounts were deactivated.

Teenagers who believe that they were wrongly classified as under 16 could seek a revision and send a “video qualfie” to verify their age. They can also offer a driver's license or an identification document issued by the government.