Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Facebook and Instagram started closing thousands of accounts Australian children under 16 on Thursday, a week before the deadline for the country’s unprecedented social media ban.
Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and Threads, said it was also blocking the creation of new accounts for users under 16 in Australia from Thursday as part of efforts to comply with the law.
It is estimated that five lakh accounts will be deleted.
A Meta spokesperson said, “While we are working hard to remove all users we believe to be under the age of 16 by December 10, compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multi-step process.”
“If you are under 16, you can still preserve and download your digital history on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. Before you turn 16, we will notify you that you will soon be allowed to access these platforms, and your content will be restored exactly as you left it.”
Australia became last year First country in the world to pass a law banning children And teenagers under the age of 16 are being prevented from using social media. The ban will come into effect on December 10, with companies facing fines of up to A$49.5m (£25m) if they fail to comply.
The move has sparked heated debate inside and outside the country, with the Australian government defending the move as protecting young people from the harms of social media. Critics – including teenagers – have argued that the ban is “unconstitutional” and violates their right to free communication.
Australia’s internet regulator said on Thursday that the ban would The first domino to fall in the global effort to rein in Big Tech.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she was initially concerned about the “blunt-force” approach of blocking people under 16 from social media, but came to support it after incremental regulatory changes proved ineffective.
“We have reached a tipping point,” Inman Grant said at the cyber summit Sydney Dialogue. “Our data is the currency that fuels these companies, and it has powerful, harmful, deceptive design features that even adults are powerless to fight against. What chance do our kids have?”
He said governments around the world were closely watching the Australian law take effect, adding: “I’ve always referred to it as the first domino, which is why they [social media giants] pushed back.”
According to eSafety, about 96 percent of Australian teenagers under the age of 16 – more than one million out of the country’s population of 27 million – have social media accounts.
A mother in Sydney welcomed Meta’s decision.
“It’s a great thing, and I’m glad it takes the pressure off parents because there are a lot of mental-health impacts,” said Jennifer Jennison. “Give my kids time off after school – they can relax and hang out with the family.”
At the conference, Inman Grant said that lobbying for the platform also included appealing to the US government, which asked her to testify before its House Judiciary Committee, which she described as an attempt to impose extra-territorial power on American free speech.
She did not say whether she would agree to appear, but added: “By writing to me and asking me to appear before the committee, she is also using extra-territorial reach.
Apart from Facebook, Instagram, Threads, the social media websites affected by the ban are TikTok, Snapchat, Xx, Reddit, Kik, Twitch and YouTube.
Two teenagers lead the Digital Freedom Project Challenges social media ban for teens, Saying that the banning law was “grossly excessive” and a violation of the “constitutional right to freedom of political communication.”