Snapchat to tell 440,000 Australians to prove they’re 16 or accounts will be locked in social media ban | Australia news
Snapchat will begin warning some users that their accounts will be disabled as Australia’s social media ban on under-16s comes into force from December 10.
Users whom the platform considers likely to be under the age of 16 will begin receiving notifications about the ban in-app, via email or SMS this week.
Snapchat will use behavioral signals based on account activity to estimate ages, as well as those who self-report as being under 16, to create a pool of affected accounts.
The app’s parent company, Snap Inc, told a Senate inquiry last month that it believed about 440,000 users in Australia were aged between 13 and 15.
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If Snapchat flags a user as under 16 but they are not, they will have to go through age assurance methods to remain on the platform. To initiate the process, users will be presented with a prompt in the app stating “verify your age.”
Age can be verified by ConnectID through an Australian bank account, by checking government ID such as a passport or driver’s licence, or by facial age estimation. The latter will require users to take a selfie, which is analyzed using technology provided by age assurance company k-ID.
Users under the age of 16 will be given the option to download data such as chats, memories and videos before December 10. Their accounts will be locked starting December 10 until the user turns 16 and chooses to reactivate their account by verifying their age.
Accounts that have been locked for more than three years and have not been verified will be deleted.
Snapchat disagrees with the idea that it should fall under the ban – arguing that Snapchat’s primary purpose is messaging, which makes it otherwise exempt – but will comply with the ban.
“Snapchat is, and always has been, a visual messaging app used primarily to connect with your closest friends and family,” a spokesperson said.
“We know that maintaining friendships is an important contribution to happiness and wellbeing for young people, and we are deeply saddened that young Australians can no longer connect with their nearest and dearest via Snapchat.
“However, while we strongly disagree with the government’s assessment… we will be disabling the accounts of users under the age of 16, effective December 10.”
Snap became the second of the platforms to announce how the ban would be implemented, after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, began warning affected users last week.
TikTok and Kick have said they will comply with the ban but have not yet outlined what steps they will take to enforce it.
Reddit, Twitch, X and YouTube have not yet announced their stance on the ban and whether they will comply.
