CANBERRA, ACT AUSTRALIA - Nearly 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children in Australia were removed by social media companies since the country banned their use by those under 16.

"We stared down everybody who said it couldn't be done, some of the most powerful and rich companies in the world and their supporters," communications minister Anika Wells told reporters on January 16. "Now Australian parents can be confident that their kids can have their childhoods back."

The law provoked debates in Australia about technology use, privacy, child safety, and mental health, and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.

Under Australian law, fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$33.2 million) could be imposed on Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Twitch if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australians younger than 16. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are exempt.

Platforms can check users' ages in several ways: by asking for ID, using a third party to estimate age from a person's face, or guessing based on existing data, such as how long an account has existed.

About 2.5 million Australians are between eight and 15 years old, said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, and earlier estimates showed that 84 percent of children aged eight to 12 had social media accounts. While officials did not know how many accounts existed across all 10 platforms, Inman Grant said the removal or restriction of 4.7 million accounts was a positive sign.

"We're stopping predatory social media companies from reaching our children," she said.

The commissioner said the 10 largest companies covered by the ban followed the rules and reported their removals on time. She added that companies now need to focus on preventing children from creating new accounts or circumventing the ban.

Australia did not release figures by platform. However, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, said it had removed nearly 550,000 accounts it believed belonged to users under 16 by the day after the ban began.

In a blog post, Meta criticized the ban and warned that smaller platforms not covered by the law might not focus on safety. It also said children could still be shown content by algorithms when browsing, which was one reason the ban was introduced.

The law is popular among parents and child safety groups. But privacy advocates and some youth groups oppose it, saying online spaces can support vulnerable or isolated young people, especially in rural areas.

Some people said they were able to trick age checks or had parents or older siblings help them bypass the rules.

Since Australia began discussing the ban in 2024, other countries have considered similar steps. Denmark, for example, said in November it plans to ban social media for children under 15.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was a point of pride that the policy is working and being copied by other countries.

Opposition lawmakers argued that many young people can easily circumvent the ban or switch to less regulated apps. Inman Grant said her office saw a jump in downloads of alternative apps when the ban started, but not a rise in actual use.

She also said the regulator plans to introduce strict new rules for AI companions and chatbots in March, but gave no further details.