Canberra (HRNW)- Snapchat has blocked 415,000 accounts of users under the age of 16 after Australia banned underage use of social media.
Snapchat said in a statement on Monday that the action was taken under a new law that came into effect in December, but warned that some underage children may still circumvent age verification systems.
Under the new law, all social media platforms, including Snapchat, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, are required to block accounts of users under 16. Companies could face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars for non-compliance. According to Australia’s online safety regulator, technology companies have already closed 4.7 million underage accounts, a step authorities described as significant.
Snapchat noted that age verification technology can be inaccurate by 2–3 years, allowing some minors to bypass the ban while affecting some users over 16. The company urged the Australian government to enforce app store verification for more effective compliance, and argued that a complete ban is not the ideal solution, as the platform is primarily used for messaging and maintaining connections with friends and family.
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