Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) said Thursday it has deactivated more than 756,000 Australian accounts suspected of belonging to users under 16, as the company works to comply with the country’s landmark social media ban.
The law took effect on Dec. 10. The law requires covered social-media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from holding accounts.
AI Detection Tools Drive Surge in Account Takedowns
The tally includes 462,000 Instagram accounts and 294,000 Facebook accounts removed between December and June 30.
Meta said it is using artificial intelligence to flag “contextual clues,” such as birthday posts or school-grade mentions, to identify underage users.
“Enforcement is ongoing, and these numbers will continue to grow,” Meta said in a statement, adding it is “meeting our obligations under the law.”
Regulatory Pressure Builds Ahead of Parliamentary Hearing
Australia has accused platforms of setting the ban up to fail and has introduced legislation to double the maximum non-compliance penalty to A$99 million (about $69.75 million), while regulators separately weigh an enforcement lawsuit against platforms found non-compliant.
Representatives of Meta, TikTok, Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, and Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) are set to appear before a parliamentary inquiry Friday alongside regulatory and government officials.
The UK Prime Minister earlier announced its plan for a similar ban, drawing inspiration from Australia’s restrictions, with other countries, including in Europe, also weighing age-verification laws.
Last year, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner described the ban as the “first domino” in a worldwide tech crackdown.
Separately, Meta, Google and TikTok are facing a proposed tax equal to 2.25% of revenue for firms that don’t comply, meant to fund Australian news publishers. This adds further regulatory pressure on top of the crackdown on under-16 accounts.
Stock’s Performance
Meta has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a 52-week high of $796.25 and a 52-week low of $520.26.
The stock’s price has fallen 12.31% year to date.
Price Action: The large-cap stock closed the regular session on Wednesday at $578.85, down 3.38%, according to Benzinga Pro data. In the pre-market session on Thursday, META gained 0.58% to $582.20.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate META stock has a negative price trend across all time frames.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Read Also: Big Pharma's Future Growth Rests on Chinese Science? Expert Says: 'We Can't Ban Our Way Out of This'
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
