Meta and TikTok Agree to Follow Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Despite Enforcement Challenges

Meta and TikTok have confirmed that they will comply with Australia’s new law prohibiting social media access for users under 16, while expressing doubts about how practical it will be to enforce.

Starting December 10, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok will be required to remove underage users from their networks. The move makes Australia one of the few countries in the world to implement such a strict social media age restriction.

The announcement has drawn global attention, with policymakers watching to see if such a sweeping rule can actually be enforced.

Both companies—Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok—acknowledged that while they intend to follow the new regulation, implementing it poses major technical hurdles.

“TikTok will comply with the law and meet our legislative obligations,” said Ella Woods-Joyce, TikTok’s policy lead in Australia, during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Although the legislation is one of the toughest globally, authorities still face major challenges in clarifying enforcement mechanisms and ensuring companies meet compliance expectations before the December deadline.

TikTok has cautioned that the law could have unintended side effects, suggesting that strict bans might drive young users to unsafe or unregulated online spaces.

“Experts believe such a ban will push younger people into darker corners of the Internet where protections don’t exist,” Woods-Joyce added.

Meanwhile, Meta’s policy director, Mia Garlick, said her company was working to remove potentially hundreds of thousands of underage users before the law takes effect. However, she noted that detecting and deleting these accounts involves “significant new engineering and age-assurance challenges.”

“Our main goal is compliance with the law — to remove those under 16,” Garlick told lawmakers.

With only weeks left before enforcement begins, both companies say they are committed to obeying the law but emphasize that effective implementation remains a complex task.