Meta wipes over 500,000 Australian teen accounts in a single week – but says world-first social media crackdown is failing

• Meta has been busy deleting the accounts of under 16s in Australia
• Over 500,000 accounts are gone from Facebook, Instagram, and Threads
• Meta still wants more done to improve age verification

The fallout from the Australian government's decision to ban under-16s from social media continues: Meta has posted an update on the action it's taken to adhere to the new rules, while reiterating its belief that there are better ways to protect teens.

By December 11, a day after the ban came into effect, Meta says it had removed access to 544,052 accounts thought to belong to under-16s in Australia. That number covers the Instagram, Facebook, and Threads platforms all owned by Meta.

The young users affected did get 14 days of notice to download their information and – presumably – let their contacts know where they could be found in the future (Facebook Messenger is actually exempt from the ban, for example).

Australian authorities have introduced the ban in the interests of child safety, citing concerns over screen time, inappropriate contact from adults, and exposure to harmful content – including material depicting violence, bullying, and mental health issues.

'A better way forward'

Meta also uses the opportunity of the update to express its "concerns" about this new ban. "Some of the initial impacts we have seen as a result of the law that suggest it is not meeting its objectives of increasing the safety and well-being of young Australians," writes the Meta team.

"We still believe there is a better way forward, which is age verification and parental approval at the app store level," it added.

That would put the onus on the likes of Google and Apple to verify the age of users. Meta is also pushing a new non-profit called the OpenAge Initiative, which aims to standardize age verification processes – and prevent teens from switching to less well regulated apps that may not be as diligent when it comes to checking how old its users are.

Meta says it will continue to "engage constructively" with the Australian government to "find a better way forward". It doesn't seem to be opposed to age verification per se, but does want it to be more tightly regulated and consistent across platforms.

The entire business model of social media apps is getting as many people as possible to spend as much time as possible inside the apps, of course. Even so, these companies are feeling the pressure to take more responsibility: in the last few years, Meta has added several features for younger users designed to keep them safe online.

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