MELBOURNE, Australia — Social media platforms will have to report monthly how many children’s accounts they close once Australia begins enforcing its 16-year age limit next week, a minister said on Wednesday.
Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Live streaming service Twitch was added to the list of age-restricted platforms less than two weeks ago.
Australia’s e-Safety Commissioner will send notices to all 10 platforms on Dec. 11 demanding information on the number of accounts removed. Monthly notices would follow for six months.
“The government recognizes that age assurance may require several days or weeks to complete fairly and accurately,” Communications Minister Anika Wells told the National Press Club of Australia.
“However, if eSafety identifies systemic violations of the law, platforms will face fines,” she added. The eSafety regulator said a court would apply the penalty up to the maximum if the platform had committed repeated violations.
Google said on Wednesday that anyone under the age of 16 in Australia would be signed out of its YouTube platform from December 10 and lose features available only to account holders, such as playlists.
Google would determine the age of YouTube account holders based on personal data contained in associated Google accounts and other signals.
“We have always said that this rushed legislation misunderstands our platform, how young Australians use it and, most importantly, fails to deliver on its promise to make kids safer online,” a Google statement said.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said suspicious young children would be removed from those platforms starting Thursday.
Account holders aged 16 and over who were mistakenly deleted can contact Yoti Age Verification and verify their age by providing government-issued ID or a video selfie, Meta said.
Sydney-based human rights group Digital Freedom Project hopes the High Court will issue an injunction preventing the law from coming into force next week.
No court date had been set as of Wednesday.
“Over the coming months we will be fighting to defend this law in the High Court because parents… across Australia have been calling on the government to step up its efforts,” Wells said.
Last month, the Malaysian government announced it would ban social media accounts for children under 16 from 2026.
Wells said the European Commission, France, Denmark, Greece, Romania and New Zealand were also interested in setting a minimum age for social media.
