Meta has locked nearly 550,000 accounts of minors in Australia.

Nearly 550,000 accounts belonging to teenagers were blocked across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads during the initial phase of enforcing Australia's ban on social media use for those under 16. Of these, Instagram accounted for 330,639 accounts, Facebook 173,497 accounts, and Threads 39,916 accounts.

Meta stated that compliance with the new regulations would be a “multi-layered and continuously evolving” process, while also expressing concerns about the challenges of verifying age online in the absence of a common industry-wide standard.

The Australian government 's ban applies to 10 social media platforms, including Twitch, Kick, YouTube, Threads, Facebook, Instagram, Snap, X, TikTok, and Reddit. These platforms implemented age verification measures starting December 10, 2025.

Following the ban, the Australian Cyber ​​Security Commissioner's Office sent requests to platforms, asking for data on disabled accounts. However, to date, the agency has not released official aggregated data.

The Australian government acknowledges that enforcing the ban will be difficult in the initial stages. In fact, many teenagers have publicly shared their experiences of circumventing the controls on social media.

According to regulations, platforms are responsible for self-assessing the extent to which the ban applies. The Australian government has stated that it will reach out to additional platforms if it detects a trend of teenagers switching to services not on the list.

Some platforms, including Bluesky, have proactively implemented age verification even though they were not named in the government's initial list.

In its latest statement, Meta said that while complying with Australian regulations, the company calls on the government to work more closely with the tech industry to find alternatives to ensure age-appropriate online experiences instead of implementing a complete ban.