Snapchat said it has blocked or disabled 415,000 accounts in Australia that belonged to under-16s. The company noted that it continues to remove accounts as part of the new national rules on social media for children.
Snapchat Block Figures
Australia’s online safety regulator reported that social platforms removed roughly 4.7 million accounts across the country after the new minimum age rules took effect in December. Platforms reported their initial outcomes to the regulator and called the result significant.
Snapchat’s number sits inside that broader total. The company said it is locking accounts on an ongoing basis. The firm also warned that its age estimation tools can err by two to three years, which could let some under 16s remain active while removing some older users by mistake.
Australian Age Law
The law bans people under 16 from holding accounts on major social apps. Companies have the duty to make justifiable efforts to bar such users. Companies are subject to big fines in case of non-compliance. The stated maximum civil penalty for failing to take reasonable steps is Aus$49.5 million.
Regulators say the initial round of account removals occurred in the first half of December. The enforcement push has been public and fast. The government has emphasized that platform cooperation is the quickest path to large-scale compliance.
What Platforms are Saying
Snapchat urged governments and app stores to add extra checks at the point of download. The company argued that requiring age checks in app stores would strengthen the law and reduce the chance that children find ways to keep accounts. Other big platforms have made similar calls.
Regulators and platforms also stress that technical limits remain. Age estimation systems are imperfect. That reality means some accounts may be wrongly blocked, and some under-16s may still slip through the filters. The regulator has said it will keep working with platforms to improve outcomes.
Changes for Users
Parents and carers in Australia will see fewer accounts available to children under 16. Teen users who are blocked may need to wait until they meet the age limit or present verified proof of age. App stores and platform policies could add steps to sign up or to download an app. The law aims to limit young people’s unsupervised exposure to major social platforms. It also creates practical work for platforms to balance safety, privacy, and accuracy when they verify age. Regulators say reasonable steps must be pragmatic and well-documented.
