A week ahead of the official teen social media ban, Meta has begun deleting Australian youngsters under the age of sixteen from its Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms.
The tech behemoth declared last month that it had started alerting users between the ages of 13 and 15 that their accounts would begin to be closed on December 4. It is anticipated that 350,000 Instagram accounts and 150,000 Facebook users would be impacted. Like X, Threads are only accessible through an Instagram account.
Companies who fail to take “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s from having accounts risk fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$33 million, £25 million) under Australia’s world-first social media ban, which goes into effect on December 10.
The BBC was informed on Thursday by a Meta representative that “compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multi-layered process. While Meta is committed to abiding by the law, it thinks a more successful, standardized, and privacy-preserving strategy is needed,” she stated.
According to Meta, the government should mandate that app shops verify users’ ages when they download apps and request parental consent for those under 16. This would remove the need for teenagers to confirm their age across various apps. Meta announced last month that users under 16 will have the option to copy and store their conversations, videos, and posts before their accounts are cancelled.
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