Meta has banned over 50k under-16 social accounts. But the Australian govt. remains in doubt- could the ban have fallen flat?
In the latter part of 2025, the Australian govt. became a stellar example- it sanctioned a social media ban for teenagers. And basically, everyone under the age of 16.
And now that it has been a couple of weeks, the media is circling back to the current state of the ban. Was it even slightly successful?
Meta and the Australian govt both hold disparate opinions.
The govt has come to a realization that the ban implementation was a bit murky. At least that’s what the federal opposition stressed.
Many of the previously banned accounts were active again. And some of the under-16 accounts aren’t even banned in the first place. This lack has instilled serious alarms across the govt. The age verification tools and software that should’ve been difficult to bypass? They became a laughing stock. Nothing, a little bit of makeup, good lighting, and edits couldn’t steer them around.
The teens found a workaround in the blink of an eye.
But it’s also something the federal govt anticipated. And they had actually made it apparent that the ban couldn’t be rolled out perfectly down to the bone. Something that Meta also agrees upon, saying that the entire plan of action is multilayered. The primary layer? Ensuring that the framework remains compliant with the law. It’s the refinement of what the current one lacks.
But it isn’t as if the tech powerhouse has been sitting on its hands.
Meta had banned over 544,052 accounts between the 4th and 11th of December:
1. 330,639 on Instagram
2. 173,497 on Facebook
3. 39,916 on Threads
Even after all of this, Meta is facing yet another dilemma- how does it gauge the age of the user without an industry standard?
How does the tech giant find a balanced workaround without hampering users’ privacy?
For now, it’s calling for a better solution forward rather than a blanket ban. Because the first step to successful ban execution is finding a juncture between Meta’s methodology and what the Australian govt truly wants out of this ban.
So, the govt is also lending a helping hand. It has asked platforms to assess whether this social media ban applies to them. And in the off-chance that the teens migrate to the alternatives (X’s alternative, Bluesky), there must be compliance.
After a hot minute, the UK has also been under similar pressure. Will other countries follow suit?
That remains a curious question.
