Australia’s new digital ID requirement for social media users is already reshaping the country’s online environment.
Meta revealed in a Medium post that it has deleted nearly 550,000 accounts that may have belonged to users under 16.
The total includes about 330,000 Instagram profiles, 173,000 Facebook accounts, and 40,000 on Threads.
The company wrote, “Ongoing compliance with the law will be a multi-layered process that we will continue to refine, though our concerns about determining age online without an industry standard remain.”
The law, which took effect on December 10, requires ten major online platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Twitch, to verify users’ ages using government-issued ID or face penalties of up to $49.5 million AUD ($33 million USD).
While presented as a measure to protect minors, the policy effectively establishes a digital ID system for social media participation. Users who refuse to provide identification or biometric data lose access, and their accounts, along with all photos, messages, and stored information.
Meta’s large-scale removals show how the policy is changing online participation.
Many of these accounts likely belonged to people unwilling to provide ID rather than confirmed minors.
In complying with the regulation, Meta and other platforms are opting to delete accounts to avoid financial penalties.
This approach also accelerates the use of algorithmic age inference tools that rely on photos and activity patterns, despite widespread concern over their accuracy and privacy implications.
Some companies are fighting back. Reddit has filed a lawsuit against the Australian government, asserting that it should not be classified as a social media platform.
The company said the regulation “comes with some serious privacy and political expression issues.” The case could determine how broadly digital identification laws can be applied to online discussion spaces.
Meta has expressed reservations about the policy even while enforcing it. The company argued that cutting teenagers off from major online spaces can isolate them from support networks and push them toward “less regulated parts of the internet.”
It also criticized the lack of consistent verification methods and noted that both parents and teenagers have shown little willingness to comply.
The deletion of hundreds of thousands of accounts in such a short period highlights how rapidly a government mandate can reshape online behavior. It also shows how easily access to years of personal data can vanish once identification becomes a prerequisite for participation.
Proponents call the measure a safety initiative, but it introduces a system of traceable digital identity that could redefine the boundaries of online speech and privacy.
By linking access to verified identity, the policy transforms social media into a controlled environment where anonymity and open discourse are harder to maintain.
