Meta begins warning teens as Instagram, Threads and Facebook December 10 lockout looms

Australians aged under 16 are warned they have two weeks until their accounts are scrubbed from several popular social media platforms.

Three weeks out from Australia’s world-leading social media ban kicks in on December 10, Meta will begin notifying teen users they will lose access to Instagram, Threads and Facebook.

YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and live-streaming platform Kick are also included in the ban, while popular gaming platform Roblox remains exempt for now.

These platforms have been included in the ban because their “sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction between two or more users”, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant has said.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said earler in November that the laws were not not a cure to keeping kids safe online, but they were a treatment plan that will make a “meaningful difference”.

Meta will begin removing access to existing accounts and blocking under 16 users from creating new ones as early as December 4.

The platforms could face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to block young users from this date.

Meta said users would receive a two-week notice period through a combination of in-app messages, emails and text messages before they lose access to their accounts.

“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,” Meta vice-president and global head of safety Antigone Davis said in a statement.

Platforms must implement age-assurance technology, but eSafety has not outlined a specific type or method, instead warning against what they should not do, including solely relying on users declaring their date of birth.

Ms Davis believes a more consistent approach to age assurance is needed, such as OS/app store-level age verification, which has been adopted by other countries and allows parents to share a child’s age range.

Meta has confirmed under-16s will be able to archive their existing Facebook, Instagram and Threads accounts so they can access them again when they turn 16.

Mia Garlick, Meta’s regional policy director, said teen users would receive instructions on how to archive and save content in their accounts.

“When you turn 16 and can access our apps again all your content will be available exactly as you left it,” Ms Garlick said.

The eSafety Commissioner has clarified the list is not final and more alterations could be made after the ban begins.