Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has started deactivating Instagram, Facebook and Threads accounts belonging to Australian users under 16, signaling what eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant calls the "first domino" in a global push to regulate Big Tech.
Australia Says Ban Is Just The Beginning: eSafety Commissioner
On Thursday, Australia's eSafety Commissioner Inman Grant said that she initially had reservations about the "blunt-force" approach but said incremental fixes had failed, reported Reuters.
"We've reached a tipping point," she said at the Sydney Dialogue cyber summit, adding that social media companies are powered by user data and built with "harmful, deceptive design features" that even adults struggle to resist.
She believes other governments are closely watching Australia's move and described it as "the first domino" in a broader global effort to rein in tech giants.
In November, Malaysia announced that starting Jan. 1, 2026, the minimum age for social media accounts will rise to 16, requiring platforms to verify users' identities via eKYC checks using official documents under its Online Safety Act.
Platforms Begin Mass Account Lockouts
Although the law takes effect Dec. 10, Meta began cutting off underage accounts this week.
ByteDance-owned TikTok and Snap Inc.’s (NYSE:SNAP) Snapchat and YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, are also notifying users flagged as under 16.
Earlier this week, YouTube Australia announced that starting Dec. 10, anyone under 16 in Australia will be automatically logged out of their accounts when the Social Media Minimum Age Act comes into effect.
Google's platform said it is following the rules despite opposing its inclusion in the crackdown, noting that he law will require teens to use YouTube without the safeguards available to signed-in users.
Roughly 96% of Australians under 16 — more than 1 million teens — have social media accounts, the regulator estimates.
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Ban Exempts Discord, Roblox And YouTube Kids
Passed in late 2024, the law also mandates platforms like Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT), X and Twitch to take "reasonable steps" to block users under 16 from creating accounts.
Australia's eSafety Commissioner determined that certain platforms — including Discord, Roblox, WhatsApp, Google Classroom, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS), Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) GitHub and YouTube Kids — do not qualify as age-restricted social media and therefore will be exempt from the ban.
US Lawmakers Step In
Inman Grant said platforms had lobbied aggressively against the ban, even appealing to the U.S. government.
She noted the irony of the House Judiciary Committee asking her to testify on what it called Australia's attempt to exert influence over American free speech, saying the request itself was a form of "extra-territorial reach," the report noted.
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