Meta warns of errors in age verification as ban on under 16s looms
Tech giant Meta will begin removing Facebook and Instagram accounts of children aged 13 to 15 a week before the government’s social media ban comes into effect, and will notify young users of the changes starting on Thursday.
While the powerful multinational has pledged to block as many underage users as possible, it has warned that there are still significant flaws in its age verification services and suggested that introducing a world-first ban on teenagers will face complex hurdles.
Meta will send it to account holders it suspects are under the age of 16 before the social media ban begins on December 10.Credit: Matt Davidson
The federal government has ordered social media platforms Tiktok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, X, Reddit, Kick and Threads to ban anyone under the age of 16 from their platforms by December 10.
The ban was praised by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who called it “common sense” and New Zealand’s parliament is set to debate similar legislation.
Starting December 4, Meta will begin removing accounts believed to be held by underage users from Instagram, Facebook, and X competitor Threads. New accounts of those under the age of 16 will be blocked from the same date.
Young users of the platforms will be sent a combination of in-app messages, notifications, SMS messages and emails this week. The notifications will give kids two weeks’ notice before their profile is removed and encourage them to download photos, videos or posts that will be deleted when their account is disabled.
An example message from Meta.
Users who are misclassified as minors will be required to verify their identity either through a “video selfie” or by providing their official credentials to age verification platform Yoti. Users who change their age to over 16 in the settings will also need to verify their age.
In an email alert about the measures, Meta acknowledged the “shortcomings and significant margin of error” in age verification, describing age 16 as a “new global” limit.
