With the upcoming ban, Meta begins notifying Australian teens that their accounts will be closed

With Australia’s social media ban on teens under 16 looming, Meta has begun notifying teenage Facebook and Instagram users of the fate of their accounts.

When the ban goes into effect on December 10, Meta will revoke teens’ access to their existing accounts, and starting December 4, will prevent users under 16 from starting new accounts. Once they turn 16, they will be able to access their old account as they left it.

However, it would be difficult for Meta to identify users under the age of 16, since people are not always honest about their age when signing up for social media services. But digital age verifications are very difficult to implement in a safe and effective way. Identity verification services are prominent targets for hacking, and the implications of even a simple vulnerability are severe, as personal information and government documents can be exposed.

Identity verification platforms have already proven to be problematic for users’ security. Last year, 404 Media found that AU10TIX, a company that verifies the identity of users on TikTok, Uber, and X, had left administrative credentials exposed online for more than a year, allowing users’ sensitive information to be exposed.