The day for Australia’s social media age ban is mere weeks away, and ahead of that, Meta is beginning to remove access.
Whether you’re someone under the age of 16 or even a parent who disagrees with the Australian government’s approach to the social media ban, the day is still coming, with December 10 weeks away.
From that date, social media companies and services will need to ensure their systems have removed anyone under the age of 16 or risk massive fines, even despite the government’s initial suggestion that parents could ignore the rules and allow their kids to use social.
However, with the fines being hefty penalties, social media is unlikely to let parents do that, and simply try complying with the government’s age push, even as its own tests showed issues with age verification.
Despite that, December 10 marches on, and Meta looks set to make a move on social accounts for under 16 early, sending alerts to accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads deemed belonging to someone under the designated age, noting that they have 14 days to download their memories or delete their account.
“For all our users aged 15 and under, we understand the importance of the treasured memories, connections, and content within your accounts,” said Mia Garlick, Regional Policy Director for Meta.
“Look out for our official notifications and follow the instructions to safely preserve and download your digital history across Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. When you turn 16 and can access our apps again all your content will be available exactly as you left it,” she said.
“We also ask parents to work with their children to ensure the correct birth date is registered on their social media accounts. Parents remain important partners in promoting the appropriate use of technology within their households as platforms such as ours work to comply with the law.”
The information, which was posted to Meta’s Medium channel as opposed to the company’s official newsroom, note what changes were coming, with access removed from December 4.
For kids and teens with an account, the change will mean removal or stagnation, either deleting what they have or letting it stay the same until they reach the age of 16 and are allowed to reactivate their account.
Today marks the beginning of those notifications, with two weeks of in-app messages and emails before access is lost, even though Facebook’s Messenger app will continue to work, the company has said.
Meanwhile, new accounts for anyone under the age will likely not work, with Instagram reportedly already blocking the creation of accounts for anyone under the age of 16 before the December 10 rollout occurs.
Officially, Meta notes it will begin blocking new under 16 accounts from December 4, though all known under 16 accounts will be disabled by December 10.
As for the unknown ones, that’s likely a matter for improvements in the Meta’s age analysis systems, and it may be the same if you are mistakenly reported as under 16.
If that happens, a user can verify their age with a video selfie or government ID, a process that teens reaching the age of 16 will also need to do when they want to reactivate their accounts.
It’s not the first instance of age verification for kids and teens, with Roblox chiming in with its own solution earlier this week, and it clearly won’t be the last. With only two weeks to go until the government’s deadline, you can expect all affected social media services to announce some sort of change in the coming weeks.
“While we are working hard to remove all users who we understand to be under the age of 16 by 10 December, compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multi-layered process,” said Antigone Davis, Vice President and Global Head of Safety for Meta.
“Though we are committed to compliance, we must also acknowledge the findings of the Age Assurance Technology Trial, which recognises the particular challenges of age assurance at the novel 16 age boundary,” she said.
“We believe a better approach is required: a standard, more accurate, and privacy-preserving system, such as OS/app store-level age verification. This, combined with our investments in ongoing efforts to assure age and verify that signal and age-appropriate experiences like Teen Accounts, offers a more comprehensive protection for young people online.”
