Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts of these users will soon be deactivated in Australia

TikTok, Meta, Snapchat and other social media platforms will start sending alerts to Australian teenagers informing them about deactivation of underage accounts. According to a report by news agency Reuters, these platforms will offer them three choices — download their data, freeze their profiles or lose their accounts — as the world’s first ban on kids under 16 using social media begins on December 10.For Australia’s remaining 20 million social media users — roughly four-fifths of the population — there will be little disruption, the report said. The new law positions Australia as a global leader in youth online safety.Earlier, platform operators had warned of chaotic outcomes, loss of users and possible fines of A$49.5 million ($32 million) for noncompliance. They had argued that mandatory age checks could be invasive or inaccurate.However, companies will mostly rely on existing software that estimates a user’s age based on activity patterns, such as “likes” and interactions, rather than frequent birthdate verifications, Reuters reported.If users believe they have been wrongly blocked, they can appeal through age assurance apps that estimate age using selfies. These tools are being rolled out widely for the first time, though tests showed occasional errors — such as mistakenly approving 15-year-olds or blocking 17-year-olds.

“There’ll be a maximum of two to three weeks of people getting to grips with something that they do daily, and then it’s old news,” said Julie Dawson, Chief Policy Officer at Yoti, which provides age assurance for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.Australia passes law to block minors without parental approvalThe law, passed earlier this year, gives platforms until December to block minors without parental discretion. It follows public concern about social media’s impact on young people, amplified by leaked Meta documents in 2021 and the 2024 bestseller The Anxious Generation.TikTok, which told parliament it has 200,000 users aged 13–15 in Australia, said it was developing a feature to report suspected underage users.Locally owned livestreaming platform Kick, which came under scrutiny after a livestreamed death earlier this year, also confirmed it “will be compliant” and plans to “introduce a range of measures.”