CANBERRA (Kashmir English): Social media companies in Australia collectively deactivated nearly five million accounts belonging to teenagers just a month after a world-first ban on under‑16s took effect.
According to the country’s internet regulator, the move has had a swift and sweeping impact. As of January 2026, Australia has officially implemented the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which became effective on December 10, 2025.
The law prohibits teenagers from holding accounts on major platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, with companies facing fines of up to A$49.5 million for non-compliance.
Current reports indicate that platforms have already removed approximately 4.7m accounts to comply with these new regulations.
Australian eSafety Commissioner
The eSafety Commissioner said platforms had so far removed about 4.7 million accounts owned by under-16s to comply with a law that came into effect on December 10.
“Today, we can announce that this is working,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference.
“This is a source of Australian pride. This was world leading legislation, but it is now being followed up around the world.”
The implementation of the ban is being closely watched by regulators worldwide. France, Indonesia, and Malaysia have all said they will introduce similar laws, while some European countries and US states are also discussing the implementation of same measures.
The government data on compliance suggests platforms are taking significant steps to adhere to a law that could see them fined up to A$49.5 million ($33 million) for non-compliance, but does not hold children or their parents liable.
The tally is far higher than estimates circulated before the law and equates to more than two accounts for every Australian aged 10- 16, based on population data. Meta previously said it took down some 550,000 underage accounts from its Instagram, Facebook and Threads.
The minimum age rule also applies to Google’s YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and X. Reddit has, however, said it is complying but has a plan to sue the government seeking to overturn the new law. The government says it will defend itself.
Critics of the move have said it will be difficult to enforce, and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told the press conference some underage accounts remain active and it was too early to declare full compliance.
“We don’t expect safety laws to eliminate every single breach. If we did, speed limits would have failed because people speed, drinking limits would have failed because, believe it or not, some kids do get access to alcohol,” she said.
All companies that were initially supposed to comply with the ban said they would comply.
Some smaller social media applications reported a surge of downloads in Australia in the run-up to the December rollout, and eSafety said it would monitor what it called migration trends. But it said the initial download spikes had not translated into sustained usage.
