Under Australias social media ban, Meta (META.US) has shut down over 750,000 underage accounts.

Meta Platforms Inc. (META.US) has stated that since the implementation of the landmark youth social media ban in Australia last year, the company has deleted over 750,000 Instagram and Facebook accounts deemed to belong to users under the age of 16 in the country. Meta revealed on Thursday that this number includes more than 500,000 accounts removed before the law took effect in December last year, as well as accounts closed thereafter. Among these, approximately 462,000 were Instagram accounts and about 294,000 were Facebook accounts. The California-based company stated, Enforcement efforts are ongoing, and these numbers will continue to rise. Meta indicated that it would report specific enforcement statuses to the Australian government and regularly update the public on progress to maintain transparency. The company also noted that AI detection technologies and other measures have been utilized in these efforts. The initial effects of the new regulations in Australia have become a focal point of close attention from regulators and academia. The regulation, effective last December, mandates that platforms such as Meta, Snap Inc. (SNAP.US), and TikTok, owned by ByteDance, must prohibit users under 16 from holding accounts, with penalties for violators. The introduction of this ban stems from widespread societal concerns about the impacts of social media on children's physical and mental health. Although more than twenty countries have introduced similar bans or are considering following suit, many Australian children have still found ways to circumvent the restrictions or have not undergone age verification at all. A report released last month by Australias online safety regulator eSafety indicated that in the first three months of the bans implementation, there was only a slight decrease in the number of underage users. The report showed that in March of this year, the proportion of users under 16 reporting to use social media platforms was 81.5%, only slightly lower than the 85.9% recorded before the law took effect. eSafety pointed out in the report, Three months after the implementation, the main reason children still hold restricted social media accounts seems to be the poor enforcement of age verification measures. The report also indicated that among children aged 10 to 15 holding Instagram accounts, about 38% said they could still use the platform because it had not yet asked them to verify their age; this figure was about 28% for Facebook. Children using other platforms also reported similar situations. Regarding how many users under 16 Meta believes may still hold Instagram or Facebook accounts in Australia and the response to eSafety's report conclusions, a Meta spokesperson did not immediately provide comment. The eSafety commissioner also did not respond immediately to inquiries about Meta's latest data.