Meta alerts young Australians to download their data before a social media ban

Meta Begins Implementation of Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban

Meta has started notifying thousands of young Australians to download their digital histories and prepare to delete their accounts from Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, as the country’s pioneering social media ban for children under 16 approaches its December 10 implementation date.

The California-based technology giant began sending two-week warning notices on Thursday, informing affected users that suspected children will lose access to the platforms beginning December 4. Meta is the first of the major social media companies to outline its compliance strategy with Australia’s new legislation.

“We will start notifying impacted teens today to give them the opportunity to save their contacts and memories,” Meta said in a statement. The company added that young users could also update their contact information “so we can get in touch and help them regain access once they turn 16.”

The scale of this change is significant, with Meta estimating approximately 350,000 Australians aged 13-15 currently use Instagram and another 150,000 in the same age bracket active on Facebook, representing a notable portion of Australia’s 28 million population.

For users aged 16 and older who receive removal notices by mistake, Meta has established a verification system through Yoti Age Verification. These users can confirm their age by providing government-issued identification documents or submitting a “video selfie” for age verification.

However, experts have raised concerns about the technology’s reliability. Terry Flew, co-director of Sydney University’s Center for AI, Trust and Governance, noted that facial-recognition technology typically has a failure rate of at least 5%. “In the absence of a government-mandated ID system, we’re always looking at second-best solutions around these things,” Flew told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Australian government announced two weeks ago that major platforms including Meta’s services, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube must take reasonable measures to exclude Australian users under 16 years old. Importantly, the government has warned platforms against demanding that all account holders prove their age, considering such a blanket approach unreasonable. Officials maintain that platforms already possess sufficient data about many users to determine whether they are minors.

The stakes are high for non-compliance, with potential fines of up to AU$50 million (approximately US$32 million) for platforms that fail to take reasonable exclusion steps.

Meta’s leadership has expressed preference for an alternative approach. Antigone Davis, the company’s vice president and global head of safety, suggested that app stores like Apple App Store and Google Play should handle age verification during initial signup. “We believe a better approach is required: a standard, more accurate, and privacy-preserving system, such as OS/app store-level age verification,” Davis stated.

The social media restrictions have garnered support from parental advocacy groups. Dany Elachi, founder of Heaps Up Alliance, which lobbied for the age restrictions, encouraged parents to help their children plan alternative activities to replace time currently spent on social media platforms.

While supporting the principle behind the legislation, Elachi criticized the government for announcing the complete list of affected platforms only on November 5, leaving limited preparation time. “When everybody misses out, nobody misses out. That’s the theory,” Elachi said, expressing hope that parents would help children recognize new opportunities available to them outside social media.

Australia’s legislation represents a groundbreaking regulatory approach to protecting young people online, potentially establishing a precedent that other countries might follow. The coming weeks will reveal how effectively the technology companies implement these restrictions and how young Australians adapt to this significant change in their digital lives.