After one month of implementing the first global law of its kind, Australia revealed that social media platforms have collectively banned nearly 4.7 million accounts of teenagers under the age of 16, demonstrating the rapid impact of this new legislation.
The Australian eSafety Authority “eSafety” clarified that the law came into effect on December 10, obligating operating companies to delete accounts of minors covered by the ban. It indicated that some platforms are still preparing to remove more accounts before the specified deadline.
These figures are the first official government data to monitor the extent of companies’ compliance with the law, which imposes fines of up to AUD 49.5 million on violating platforms, with no legal responsibility placed on children or their parents.
The Authority stated that the number of accounts deleted exceeded population estimates that preceded the issuance of the law. Meta previously stated that it had removed approximately 550,000 accounts of minors from the “Instagram,” “Facebook,” and “Threads” platforms as part of compliance procedures.
