Meta deletes 756,000 suspected under-16 Australian accounts after minors' ban
Meta (the company behind Instagram and Facebook) just deleted 756,000 accounts in Australia that were suspected to belong to users under 16.
This move came after the country rolled out a social media ban for minors on December 10, 2025.
Most of the removals happened on Instagram (462,000), with Facebook seeing 294,000 accounts taken down.
Meta AI detects more underage accounts
Meta's AI tools are now better at spotting underage users, using clues like birthdays and school grades.
The number of deleted accounts jumped from 504,000 in January to over 750,000 by June, showing their tech is catching more minors trying to slip through.
Most under-16s remained online in Australia
Even with all these removals, Australian government figures and multiple independent studies have shown more than eight in 10 under-16s were still on social media in the ban's first three months.
Australia has introduced a law to double the maximum penalty for non-compliance to A$99 million (US$69.75 million) and give the regulator greater document discovery powers.
Meta and other platforms will have to answer questions about all this at a parliamentary inquiry later this year.