Snapchat blocks more than 400,000 Australian accounts but warns of ‘significant gaps’ in under-16s social media ban

<p>Social media platform says there are still ‘real technical limitations to accurate and dependable age verification’</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/feb/02/australia-news-live-desi-freeman-porepunkah-shooting-search-nationals-leadership-spill-littleproud-liberals-sussan-ley-angus-taylor-andrew-hastie-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</a></p></li><li><p>Get our <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl">breaking news email</a>, <a href="https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3">free app</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl">daily news podcast</a></p></li></ul><p>The accounts of more than 415,000 users in Australia identified as being under 16 were locked or disabled by Snapchat as part of its compliance with the under-16s social media ban.</p><p>The company announced <a href="https://values.snap.com/snap-reflection-on-au-social-media-minimum-age">in a blog post</a> on Monday that, as of the end of January, it had disabled or locked more than 415,000 Snapchat accounts in Australia belonging to users who either declared an age under 16 or the platform believes to be under 16 based on age detection technology.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/02/snapchat-blocks-more-than-400000-australian-accounts-but-warns-of-significant-gaps-in-under-16s-social-media-ban">Continue reading...</a>

Read the full article at: The Guardian World →