Photo by Shutter Speed on Unsplash
Meta has updated its compliance with Australia’s social media age ban which came into effect December 10.
As of December 11, the social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, has removed access to almost 550,000 accounts across the three platforms.
Meta is a founding partner of the OpenAge Initiative, a non-profit focused on age assurance. The organisation has introduced new age verification tools called AgeKeys, which are the first interoperable, privacy-preserving global age signals.
Users can set up a verified age key which is stored on their device and allows those users to share verified age signals with multiple participating platforms in a privacy-preserving manner.
AgeKeys can be verified through a government-issued ID, financial information, face estimation, or national digital wallets. Meta will begin to integrate this tool into its apps in Australia and other markets in 2026.
Ages must be verified by teens and parents from app to app.
Meta introduced Teen Accounts back in 2024.
However, the company believes age-verification legislation should be introduced at the app level for "consistent, industry-wide protections" for teens.
Meta has called on the Australian government to introduce more than just a ban, but an industry standard to support providing "safe, privacy-preserving, age appropriate experiences online".
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