Meta blocked over 500,000 accounts due to the ban on social media for children in Australia

Meta blocked 550,000 accounts belonging to Australian children under the age of 16 in the first days of the law prohibiting teenagers from using social networks, BBC reports.

In December, legislation came into force in Australia requiring social networks to block accounts of users under the age of 16.

The ban is justified by the need to protect children from harmful content and algorithms.

In the first week of the law’s implementation, Meta blocked:

• 330,639 accounts on Instagram;

• 173,497 on Facebook;

• 39,916 on Threads.

The company said it supports the idea of strengthening online child protection, but called on the government to review its approach.

Meta proposed introducing age verification at the app store level, as well as providing exceptions for parental consent. According to the company, this would reduce the burden on regulators and ensure a level playing field for all social networks.

More details about the social media ban in Australia

On December 10, 2025, Australia officially became the first country in the world to impose a strict ban on social media access for children under the age of 16.

The law, dubbed a “global social experiment,” came into force, and millions of accounts were threatened with being blocked.

Teenagers under the age of 16 are now prohibited from having accounts on:

• TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X (Twitter), Reddit.

• YouTube (the main platform) is also subject to restrictions, although access to YouTube Kids remains open.

Messaging apps (WhatsApp, Messenger), gaming platforms (Roblox, Discord), and educational services (Google Classroom) remained accessible so that children would not be isolated from learning and communicating with their families.

In December 2025, Swiss Interior Minister Élisabeth Baume-Schneider said that Switzerland should strengthen the protection of children from online risks and added that she was ready to completely ban social networks for minors.

Options under consideration include a complete ban on access for children, blocking harmful content, and regulating algorithms.

Detailed discussions of the initiative will begin in 2026.

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