August M
Australia will require major social media platforms to remove all accounts belonging to users under 16 starting December 10, a world-first policy that has drawn sharp objections from YouTube and triggered a legal challenge from digital rights advocates.
Australia is preparing to roll out one of the world’s most aggressive online safety laws, ordering major platforms to remove underage accounts starting December 10.
The move marks a high-stakes experiment at a moment when governments worldwide are grappling with how to curb digital harms to young people.
Whether the sweeping rules can actually work is now a central question for regulators, tech companies and families alike.
Accounts shut down
As France 24 reported, the restrictions apply to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and other major sites, all of which must take “reasonable steps” to delete accounts belonging to users under 16 or face fines of up to Aus$49.5 million (US$32 million).
Hundreds of thousands of Australian teens are expected to be affected — Instagram alone counts roughly 350,000 users aged 13 to 15.
YouTube had initially been exempt so younger viewers could continue watching educational content, but Canberra reversed course in July, saying children must be protected from “predatory algorithms.”
YouTube responded sharply: public policy manager Rachel Lord warned the law “will, in fact, make Australian kids less safe,” arguing that account removal strips children of protective tools such as safety filters.
Under the new rules, YouTube will automatically sign out users under 16 based on their Google account age. Those without accounts may still browse, but with reduced safeguards.
Government pushes back
Communications minister Anika Wells dismissed YouTube’s objections as “outright weird,” adding that if the platform admits content is unsuitable for minors, “that’s a problem that YouTube needs to fix.” She said the law aims to stop Generation Alpha from being drawn into what she described as algorithmic “purgatory.”
The government acknowledges the rollout will be imperfect and expects some minors will slip through early enforcement gaps.
Still, officials say strong penalties will pressure companies to overhaul their systems swiftly.
Meta has already begun deactivating underage accounts, while YouTube says it will archive young users’ profiles so they can be restored at age 16 without losing content.
Growing resistance
Not all platforms are covered — Roblox, Pinterest and WhatsApp remain exempt for now — and the list may change as the policy is reviewed.
Meanwhile, the Digital Freedom Project has filed a High Court challenge, calling the law an “unfair” restriction on free expression.
The coming weeks will test whether Australia’s first-in-the-world approach becomes a regulatory template, or a cautionary tale about the difficulty of policing youth activity in a fragmented digital landscape.
Sources: France 24
