Meta's compliance with Australia's Social Media Ban

Meta has removed more than 750,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts in Australia that it assessed as belonging to users under 16, including over 500,000 accounts prior to the law’s implementation on 30 June 2026. The company states enforcement is ongoing and will continue to remove accounts as part of its compliance efforts. Meta reports its actions to the eSafety Commissioner and plans to publish periodic updates to maintain transparency with the public.

Identifying age online is an ongoing process rather than a single verification step, according to Meta. The company has implemented a series of improvements throughout 2026, building on its approach outlined in May and explained to families in June. Meta emphasizes that enforcement alone is insufficient and has conducted an education campaign across Facebook and Instagram in Australia, reaching approximately 1.3 million people.

The education campaign provided guidance on how Meta detects and removes underage accounts, what happens to a teen’s account and memories, and how users can verify or correct their stated age. Meta highlights the importance of parental awareness, noting that a young person using social media without a parent or guardian’s knowledge is harder to support. The company aligns with the Australian Government’s objective of ensuring safe, age-appropriate online experiences for young people.

Meta acknowledges inconsistencies in how platforms remove underage users and advocates for a single reliable age signal at the operating system or app store level. The company suggests age verification should occur once during device setup or app download, rather than repeatedly across multiple applications. Meta commits to investing in new methods to improve age verification while protecting privacy and will continue to provide updates on its progress.