Meta has deactivated hundreds of thousands of accounts after Australia implemented a law restricting social media use for those under 16.
Modern.az reports that, according to the company's statement, a total of 756,000 accounts identified as belonging to individuals under 16 were closed between December 2025 and June 2026. Of these, 462,000 were Instagram accounts and 294,000 were Facebook accounts. Australia became the first country in the world to ban the use of major social media platforms by individuals under 16 on December 10, 2025. The rules cover TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and other large platforms, in addition to Facebook and Instagram. The responsibility for enforcing the age restriction has been placed directly on the platforms, not on parents. However, despite the deletion of hundreds of thousands of accounts, serious questions remain about the effectiveness of the ban. According to independent research and government data, more than 80% of those under 16 continued to use social media in the first three months of the ban.
One of the main problems is that it is relatively easy to circumvent the age restriction. Teenagers can change their date of birth during registration, use adult information, or create a new account in place of a closed one. Meta states that it uses artificial intelligence technologies to determine the real age of users. The system analyzes information in the profile, birthday posts, notes related to school and class, usage behavior, and other signals. The company also uses technologies that determine the approximate age of the user from photos.
According to Meta, additional mechanisms are also being implemented to prevent the re-creation of accounts deleted because they belonged to minors. However, since determining age based on artificial intelligence and photos does not always yield accurate results, the possibility of incorrect decisions is also being discussed.
