Meta Alerts Australian Teens to Download Data Before Ban

Thousands of teenage Australians received a two-week warning from tech giant Meta on Thursday to delete their Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts and download their digital history before a world-first social media ban on accounts belonging to youngsters under the age of sixteen takes effect.

Two weeks ago, the Australian government declared that starting on December 10, the three Meta platforms, together with Snapchat, TikTok, X, and YouTube, must take reasonable measures to exclude Australian account holders under the age of sixteen.

The first of the targeted IT companies to describe how it will abide by the rule was Meta, based in California, on Thursday. Thousands of juvenile account holders received an email and SMS from Meta alerting them to the fact that, as of December 4, suspected children will no longer be able to use the platforms.

In a statement, Meta added, “We will start informing impacted teens today to give them a chance to save their contacts and memories.”

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Meta’s Warning to Young Users

According to Meta, young users can update their contact details during the notice period, “so we can get in contact and help them regain membership once they turn 16.”

According to Meta, there are 150,000 Australians between the ages of 13 and 15 using Facebook and 350,000 on Instagram. 28 million people live in Australia.

According to Meta, account holders 16 years of age and over who were inadvertently informed that they would be excluded can get in touch with Yoti Age Verification and confirm their age by presenting official identification documents or a “video selfie.”

Such facial recognition technology has a failure rate of at least 5%, according to Terry Flew, co-director of Sydney University’s Centre for AI, Trust, and Governance.

Age Verification and Privacy Concerns

“We’re always looking at second-best alternatives around these things in the absence of a government-mandated ID system,” Flew stated to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Platforms have been cautioned by the government that requiring all account holders to provide proof that they are older than 15 would be an irrational reaction to the new age limitations. According to the government, the platforms already had enough information on a large number of account holders to determine that they weren’t young children.

Platforms risk fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million) if they fail to take appropriate measures to exclude young children.

Antigone Davis, vice president and global head of safety at Meta, stated that she would prefer that app retailers, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play, gather age information when users register and confirm that they are at least 16 years old for app operators like Facebook and Instagram.

Reactions From Safety Advocates and Parents

In a statement, Davis stated, “We think a better approach is required: a standard, more precise, and secure system, such as OS/app store-level age verification.”

“This, along with our investments in continuous efforts to ensure age… offers greater protection for young people online,” she continued.

According to Dany Elachi, the founder of the parents’ organisation Heaps Up Alliance, which advocated for the age restriction on social media, parents should begin assisting their kids in making plans for how they will use the time they are currently spending on social media.

He criticised the administration for just disclosing the full list of platforms that will be subject to age restrictions on November 5.

“The idea that children under the age of sixteen are better off in the real world is something we fought for and are in favour of, but there are parts of the legislation that we’re not entirely supportive of,” Elachi stated.

“No one misses out when everyone does.” That’s the theory. Of course, we anticipate that this is how it will turn out. He continued, “We hope parents will be optimistic about this and try to assist their children to see every one of the opportunities that are now open to them.”