JAKARTA Social media giants such as Meta, TikTok, and Snap have stated that they will comply with Australia’s new laws that prohibit users under the age of 16 from using their platforms, although they still reject the policy. All three confirmed they would begin disabling teenage accounts as soon as the rules take effect on December 10, 2025.
In Australia’s parliamentary session, Meta “owners of Instagram and Facebook” together with ByteDance (the owner of TikTok) and Snap (the owner of Snapchat) confirmed that they still believe the ban will not really protect teens. However, they are committed to contacting underage account owners “it is estimated that more than one million users” are preparing them for this change.
This policy is in the global spotlight because it is considered a firm step for the government in responding to concerns about increasing mental health problems in adolescents. Under the new law, each platform is required to take normal measures to block users under 16 years of age, or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (approximately IDR 520 billion).
Previously, the social media companies argued that such a ban could actually potentially encourage teens to more risky and difficult-to-supervise underground platforms. They also called the implementation of this policy very complex and could hinder the social interaction of young people. Snap and YouTube even refused to be categorized as social media platforms.
“We don’t agree, but we accept and will comply with the law,” Jennifer Stout, Senior Vice President of Global Policy and Operations Platform Snap, said in a video statement.
Ella Woods-Joyce, Head of TikTok’s Public Policy for Australia, repeated similar but assertive rejections, TikTok will comply with the law and fulfill our obligations. We are on track to suit compliance.
Meanwhile, Mia Garlick, Director of Meta Policy for Australia and New Zealand, said it would soon contact about 450 thousand user accounts under 16 on Instagram and Facebook. They will be given two options: delete all photos and data, or store them until the user is 16 years old.
TikTok claims to have around 200 thousand underage users in Australia, while Snap says similar figures reached 440,000 accounts. All three companies said they would use an automated behavior detection system to identify accounts that might lie about their age.
“If we find someone claiming to be 25 years old but his behavior shows that under 16 years old, starting December 10, we will deactivate the account,” Woods-Joyce said.
For users who are wrongly detected as minors, Meta and TikTok will offer a verification process through third-party tools to estimate their true age. Snap is still preparing solutions for users who believe they are wrongly blocked.
This step marks a major change in the social media industry’s stance on child protection policies, which are now a serious concern of many governments in the world.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language.
(system supported by DigitalSiber.id)