Sydney, Australia, August 13 (ANI/WAM): Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Thursday that it had taken down more than 750,000 accounts it suspected were held by Australians under 16 since a world-first ban on teen accounts took effect, and promised further action as it faces possible regulatory intervention.
The company said it had deactivated 462,000 suspected Instagram accounts and 294,000 suspected Facebook accounts from just before the Australian social media ban went into effect in December through June. That was up from the 331,000 Instagram accounts and 173,000 Facebook accounts it said it had removed by January.
The company has said it wants to comply with a law that it and other platforms have vocally opposed, just as Australia’s internet regulator considers an enforcement lawsuit against platforms, including some owned by Meta, that it says have failed to take sufficient steps to comply with the law.
No other platforms have released compliance data covering the same period provided by Meta, but Australian government figures and multiple independent studies have shown that more than eight in 10 children under 16 were still using social media during the first three months of the ban.
The Australian government proposed the landmark law, which took effect Dec. 10, amid concerns about social media’s impact on the physical and mental health of children and young teens.
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