Snapchat has disabled or locked more than 415,000 accounts in Australia belonging to users believed to be under 16, as part of compliance with the country's social media ban for children. The company announced in a blog post on Monday that it identified these accounts through age declarations or age detection technology, and continues to remove more daily.
However, Snapchat warned of 'significant gaps' in the ban's implementation, citing 'real technical limitations to accurate and dependable age verification'. The platform noted that facial age estimation technology, trialled last year, is only accurate within two or three years, meaning some under-16s may bypass protections while some over-16s could be wrongly locked out.
Snapchat also highlighted that other messaging apps not covered by the ban could attract teenagers seeking less regulated alternatives. 'While we don’t yet have data to quantify this shift, it’s a risk that deserves serious consideration,' the company said.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said her office would focus on the 10 platforms initially named, including Snapchat, and would send notices on compliance. She acknowledged that age assurance technology needs improvement and that Snapchat uses facial age estimation with a 'liveness test' to check for real images.
Since the ban took effect in December 2024, 4.7 million accounts have been removed across the 10 platforms, but this figure includes historical, inactive and duplicate accounts. Meta and Snapchat are the only companies to disclose specific numbers.
