Big tech stops complaining, starts complying with Australia's teen social media ban
11/12/2025 1:13:00 PM
Online platforms will ping Australian teenagers through over a million accounts in coming days offering a choice: download data, freeze profiles or lose the lot when a world-first ban on kids using social media starts on December 10.
TikTok, Snapchat and Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Facebook, Instagram and Threads are poised to deactivate accounts registered by users under 16, five people with knowledge of the plans said.
Australia's remaining 20 million social media users - four-fifths of the population - can expect little interruption, the people said, as platforms promise low-fuss compliance with a law which puts Australia ahead in the protection of youths online.
The picture is a departure from the chaotic scenarios painted during a year of protest by platform operators fearing a loss of users as well as a A$49.5 million ($32 million) fine for noncompliance. Firms had argued mandatory age checks would subject users to endless log-ins, be invasive or inaccurate and be easy to circumvent.
In practice, social media firms will lean on software they already employ to guess age based on engagement through "likes", for instance, rather than the frequent input and verification of birth dates, the people said.
resort to so-called age assurance apps only when users complain of being incorrectly blocked, said the people, declining to be identified as the plans are not yet finalised.
Still, the approach is open to teething problems. Anyone can contest bans through age assurance apps which are being deployed at scale for the first time and which trials showed worked but sometimes with unacceptable error rates - typically along the lines of blocking 16-17 year-olds or approving 15 year-olds, with latter cases potentially exposing companies to fines.
For those directed to age assurance apps, disruption will still be minimal, said Julie Dawson, chief policy officer at Yoti, which provides age assurance for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
"There'll be a maximum of two to three weeks of people getting to grips with something that they do daily, and then it's old news," she said.
Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, owner of video-sharing platform YouTube, declined to comment. In October parliamentary hearings, all but Google said they planned to comply and would contact young users, without elaborating.
TikTok, Snapchat and Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Facebook, Instagram and Threads are poised to deactivate accounts registered by users under 16, five people with knowledge of the plans said.
Australia's remaining 20 million social media users - four-fifths of the population - can expect little interruption, the people said, as platforms promise low-fuss compliance with a law which puts Australia ahead in the protection of youths online.
The picture is a departure from the chaotic scenarios painted during a year of protest by platform operators fearing a loss of users as well as a A$49.5 million ($32 million) fine for noncompliance. Firms had argued mandatory age checks would subject users to endless log-ins, be invasive or inaccurate and be easy to circumvent.
In practice, social media firms will lean on software they already employ to guess age based on engagement through "likes", for instance, rather than the frequent input and verification of birth dates, the people said.
resort to so-called age assurance apps only when users complain of being incorrectly blocked, said the people, declining to be identified as the plans are not yet finalised.
Still, the approach is open to teething problems. Anyone can contest bans through age assurance apps which are being deployed at scale for the first time and which trials showed worked but sometimes with unacceptable error rates - typically along the lines of blocking 16-17 year-olds or approving 15 year-olds, with latter cases potentially exposing companies to fines.
For those directed to age assurance apps, disruption will still be minimal, said Julie Dawson, chief policy officer at Yoti, which provides age assurance for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
"There'll be a maximum of two to three weeks of people getting to grips with something that they do daily, and then it's old news," she said.
Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, owner of video-sharing platform YouTube, declined to comment. In October parliamentary hearings, all but Google said they planned to comply and would contact young users, without elaborating.