Meta has begun sending urgent alerts to thousands of young Australians, advising them to download and save their data before a new nationwide law forces their accounts offline.
The warning marks one of the most significant shifts in digital policy globally, as Australia becomes the first country to introduce a blanket ban preventing anyone under the age of 16 from accessing major social media platforms.
The law, which takes effect on 10 December 2025, mandates that platforms like Facebook and Instagram stop allowing anyone aged 13 to 15 to hold an account.
In anticipation, Meta has launched a sweeping, multi-day notification campaign, contacting teenagers through in-app prompts, emails, and even SMS messages to ensure they understand that their accounts will soon be deactivated.
The company began rolling out these alerts around 19 November, giving affected users only a short window to export their photos, messages, posts, and personal history before they lose access.
Those who ignore the warnings risk losing years of digital memories — a concern that has amplified the urgency around Meta’s campaign.
Meta’s process for complying with the new legislation involves several stages. First, the company will block the creation of new under-16 accounts, then progressively deactivate existing ones.
Beginning 4 December, the platform will start making underage profiles invisible before fully suspending them by 10 December.
In all cases, users aged 13 to 15 are being told to download their data immediately. Meta provides tools allowing teenagers to export everything from their posts and reels to private messages and saved content.
They can also elect to delete their account entirely — a step some may take if they do not wish to reactivate once they reach the permitted age.
For those who hope to regain access in the future, Meta is asking them to update their contact information now, ensuring the company can reconnect them with their accounts once they turn 16.
As Meta prepares to enforce the law, some eligible users are worried about being mistakenly flagged as underage.
To address this, the company is offering an age-verification appeal using Yoti, a third-party provider that can confirm a user’s age through two options: uploading a government ID or completing a quick “video selfie” that estimates age through artificial intelligence analysis.
The system, however, is not perfect. Experts caution that facial-recognition age estimation carries a small but notable error margin. Researchers have pointed out that around a 5% error rate may affect users near the cut-off age, leading to accidental suspensions.
Australia’s ban is unprecedented in scope. While many countries impose age restrictions on paper, few enforce them with such sweeping legal mechanisms.
The new regulations require platforms to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent access by those under 16 — a term broad enough to compel tech giants to overhaul their onboarding and monitoring systems.
Non-compliance could lead to substantial penalties. Companies that fail to block underage users risk fines of up to A$49.5 million, adding significant pressure for social media giants to adhere strictly to the mandate.
