Social media platforms block 4.7m underage accounts in Australia

Social media platforms have blocked 4.7 million accounts under Australia’s world-first social media ban for under-16s.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant announced this via a statement issued on Friday, January 16, 2026.

Grant said initial figures showed platforms were taking meaningful action to remove underage users.

“It is clear that eSafety’s regulatory guidance and engagement with platforms is already delivering significant outcomes,” she said.

Australia has required big platforms including Meta, TikTok, and YouTube to stop underage users from holding accounts since the legislation came into force on December 10 last year.

Meta urges Australia to reverse ban on teenagers, removes 544,000 social media accounts

Companies face fines of Aus$49.5 million (US$33 million) if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply.

Meta said last week it had removed 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 40,000 from Threads in the week to December 11.

But Meta repeated its call for app stores to be required to verify people’s ages and get parental approval before under-16s can download an app.

The Star