Instagram warned under-16s that their accounts would be closed
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Australia’s unprecedented social media ban on under-16s has finally come into force, but the first day of the new law revealed some teething problems, including the fact that some children were able to thwart age verification technology designed to prevent them from accessing their accounts.
The policy has received support from many parents, who hope it will lead to less online bullying, more time spent outdoors and less exposure to inappropriate content. In other quarters, there has been criticism that the ban is ineffective and counterproductive, as well as countless satirical memes.
Andrew Hammond of consultancy KJR in Canberra, Australia, who led an age verification trial for the Australian government, followed today’s events closely. He says he has spoken to a number of parents with children who should be part of the ban, but who have not yet lost access to their accounts. “There are definitely people who have said they’ve worked around it or haven’t been invited yet,” Hammond says, although he expects more accounts to be closed over the next week.
Meta, owner of two of the largest social media platforms subject to the ban, Instagram and Facebook, said New scientist today that it started removing access to accounts about a week ago. “As of today, we have removed all accounts that we believe are under 16,” a Meta spokesperson said. “As Australia’s social media ban comes into effect, Meta has removed access to Instagram, Threads and Facebook for teenagers who we believe are under 16, and will prevent new users under 16 from creating accounts.”
Meta declined to provide specific details on the number of accounts removed, although the spokesperson pointed to data released earlier in the year that around 150,000 young people aged 13 to 15 in Australia are on Facebook and around 350,000 are on Instagram. This means that on these two platforms alone, the accounts of at least half a million young Australians have now been deleted.
The company says it is committed to meeting its legal obligations, but that even on day one of the ban, many of the concerns raised by community groups and some parents are coming to fruition. “These include preventing vulnerable teens from gaining support from online communities, driving them to less regulated apps and parts of the internet, inconsistent age verification methods, and a lack of interest in compliance among many teens and parents,” the spokesperson explains.
Hammond says there are still many unanswered questions, such as the details of what will happen to teenagers under the age of 16 who vacation or study in Australia. The government has already said the law will apply to visiting teenagers. While Australians’ accounts are being deleted, Hammond says it’s likely visitors will simply have their accounts suspended. “But we’re only a few hours away from the ban, so I think there’s still a lot of water to flow under the bridge in terms of how it works.”
As the law comes into full force, Hammond, Australia and the rest of the world wait to see what happens next. “Now we are going to see what is the reality of the engagement of under-16s in their social networks,” he says. Maybe “they’ll be out there playing cricket and kicking a ball in the street,” Hammond says, “but if that’s really ingrained in their lives, then we’ll start to see a lot of attempts to circumvent it.”
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