Meta has removed more than 500,000 Australian children from Facebook and Instagram to comply with the country’s social media ban for under-16s.
The social media giant says it removed 330,000 users from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook and 39,000 from Threads between December 4 and 11.
Meta released data a month after the ban came into effect on 10 December 2025. The law, which came into effect Dec. 10, mandates services such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Threads and Kick, keep under-16s off their platforms or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million).
Meta further argued that the early data shows the ban is not improving teen safety or wellbeing. It says inconsistent age checks across platforms are weakening enforcement and pushing some teenagers towards smaller, less regulated apps, while algorithm-driven content remains accessible in other ways.
The Australian government is expected to release data showing how many young Australians were kicked off all the platforms affected by the ban this week.