goal Account deletion began on Thursday Instagram, Facebook and topics Of minors under the age of 16 to comply with a new Australian law, which imposes the world’s first ban on children of this age on social media from 10 December.
The regulation, approved by that country’s Parliament in November 2024, through the Online Security Amendment Act, requires major online platforms, including TiTok and YouTubewhich Block internet users under 16 years old before the mentioned date.
If they do not comply with the regulations, technology companies are subject to fines of $2,000 49.5 million Australian dollars (about 32 million US dollars). In the country, hundreds of thousands of teenagers are expected to be affected; Only Instagram has some 350,000 users Australians aged 13 to 15 years.
“While we are working hard to remove all users we know are under 16 by December 10, implementation will be an ongoing, multi-faceted process,” a Meta spokesperson said. He also explained that users affected by the law They can save and download their records online.
Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albaneseit has been stated on several occasions that the main goal of this standard is Giving teens more time to grow without the possibility of networking addiction.
While there are specialists who consider that access to social networks at an early age can exacerbate mental health problems in minors, there are those who believe that a ban of this type can cause unwanted effects, such as pushing teenagers toward Deep web Or even isolate them socially.
An online rights group filed a legal challenge last week to stop the ban. Digital Freedom Project He said he had challenged the new regulations in the Australian High Court, calling them an “unfair” attack on freedom of expression.
Australian authorities expect teenagers to go to great lengths to circumvent laws, e.g Use fake IDsalso Retouch your photos using artificial intelligence To appear older.
Malaysia and New Zealand They are following in Australia’s footsteps. The Asian country has planned to ban minors under the age of 16 from registering for social media profiles next year, while the Oceania nation will implement a similar ban.
With information from Agence France-Presse