According to Tom’s Guide, Meta has started shutting down the social media accounts of users it estimates are under 16 in Australia, several days before the country’s official ban takes effect on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. At least 500,000 accounts on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook are expected to be affected. The “world-first” law impacts 10 major platforms, including YouTube, X, Snapchat, and TikTok, with companies facing fines up to AU$49.5 million (~$32 million) for non-compliance. Meta began notifying users aged 13-15 in November and has blocked new account creation for under-16s. The company is using UK-based firm Yoti for age verification, which can involve uploading a video selfie or government ID.
The Enforcement Mess
So, here’s the immediate problem: this is a logistical nightmare. Meta is basically making a best-guess estimate on who’s underage, which means mistakes are inevitable. They say you can appeal and go through verification, but that means handing over a driver’s license or a video selfie to a third-party company. That’s a huge privacy hurdle for a teen who just wants to scroll. And Meta itself has argued this is the wrong approach—they think verification should happen at the app store level, once, not on every single app. They have a point. But now, the burden and the risk are squarely on them and the other platforms.
The VPN Wildcard
This is where it gets really tricky. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the internet knows what’s coming next: a massive surge in VPN usage. The article notes interest in the best VPNs is expected to spike, and regulators have told companies to try and stop kids from using them. How, exactly? That’s completely unclear. Blocking VPNs at a platform level is a cat-and-mouse game, and any broad attack on VPN tech has serious privacy implications for everyone in Australia. The real danger, as highlighted by Digital Rights Watch’s Tom Sulston, is kids downloading sketchy free VPNs that monitor and monetize their data. So the “protecting young Australians” law might just push them toward even riskier corners of the web.
Privacy Versus Protection
Look, the goal might be noble, but the method is brutally clumsy. We’re trading one set of risks for another. Centralizing age verification creates honeypots of sensitive data—faces and IDs—that are incredibly attractive to hackers. Critics in the UK and US have made the same arguments. The government frames this as “a delay to having accounts,” not a ban. But for a 15-year-old, that’s a semantic difference. Their digital social life is being walled off, and the “solution” involves invasive checks or dodgy workarounds. It feels like a policy made by people who don’t understand how the modern internet actually functions.
What Happens Next?
All eyes will be on December 10 and the weeks that follow. Will other platforms follow Meta’s lead and start pre-emptively shutting accounts down? How many mistaken deactivations will there be? And what’s the first major platform to get hit with that multi-million dollar fine? This Australian experiment is being watched globally. If it’s seen as a chaotic failure, it might deter other countries. If it’s deemed a success… well, get ready for a lot more debates about digital ID and age gates. One thing’s for sure: the kids will find a way. They always do.
