Meta has removed access to more than 750,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts in Australia that it assessed as belonging to users under the age of 16, as the company continues enforcing the country’s social media age restrictions.
The figure covers enforcement through June 30, 2026, and includes more than 500,000 accounts Meta had already removed ahead of the law taking effect in December 2025.
Meta said enforcement remains ongoing and that the total number of affected accounts is expected to continue rising.
Meta Says More Than 750,000 Under-16 Accounts Have Been Removed
According to the company, the latest total reflects account removals carried out between December 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026.
The company reports its enforcement activity to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and said it plans to continue publishing periodic updates on its compliance efforts.
Meta said it shares the Australian government’s goal of providing young people with safe and age-appropriate online experiences and is continuing to invest in systems designed to estimate users’ ages more accurately while protecting privacy.
Meta Uses AI to Detect Underage Facebook and Instagram Users
Meta said its enforcement system relies on several methods rather than a single age-verification check.
One of the company’s main tools is AI-powered proactive detection, which analyzes information contained in profiles, posts, comments, captions and biographies for contextual signals that may indicate a user is under 16.
Examples can include references to school grades or birthday celebrations that suggest a person’s likely age.
The company has also simplified the process for parents and other users to report suspected underage accounts through Facebook, Instagram and its Help Centre.
The company said these reports are now supplemented with AI-driven reviews, which it says can improve accuracy and accelerate decisions compared with relying exclusively on human review.
Meta Strengthens Measures to Prevent Teens From Re-Registering
Meta has also strengthened systems designed to identify users attempting to create new accounts after an underage account has already been removed.
In addition, the company updated the Apple App Store age rating for its services in Australia to 16+, bringing the listing more closely in line with the country’s minimum-age requirements.
The company said its age-assurance measures have continued to evolve throughout 2026 as it gains more data from enforcement.
Meta Calls for Device-Level Age Verification
Despite its compliance efforts, the company continues to argue that individual platforms should not bear primary responsibility for repeatedly determining users’ ages.
The company said its main concern is that online platforms may use inconsistent methods when identifying and removing underage users.
Meta is advocating for a standardized age signal provided at the operating-system or app-store level.
Under that approach, a young person’s age could be verified once when setting up a device or downloading an application, with platforms subsequently receiving an appropriate age signal rather than asking users to verify themselves separately across numerous apps.
Meta said such a system could provide a more consistent approach to age assurance while reducing repeated verification requirements and improving privacy protections.
The company said it will continue refining its age-detection technology and providing further updates as enforcement of Australia’s social media age restrictions continues.
