Their recent statements signal a notable shift in how social media companies are responding to a new law, which has drawn global attention as concerns about youth mental health continue to rise.

According to the Australian legislation, social media platforms are required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent users under the age of 16 from accessing their services, or they could face fines reaching up to $49.5 million.

Previously, platforms argued that such a ban might push young users toward less regulated areas of the internet, potentially exposing them to greater risks, while also cutting off important social interactions for youth.

Additionally, companies suggested that enforcing the law would be overly complicated. Both Snap and YouTube, which is owned by Google, have also claimed that they do not fit the definition of social media companies.

Jennifer Park Stout, Snap’s senior vice president of global policy and platform operations, stated via video link, “While we don’t agree, we acknowledge the law and will comply with its requirements.”

Ella Woods-Joyce, TikTok’s public policy lead for Australia, reiterated the Chinese-owned platform’s opposition to the ban but said “TikTok will comply with the law and meet its obligations”.

“We are on track to meet our compliance,” she said.

Mia Garlick, Meta’s policy director for Australia and New Zealand, said the company would soon approach holders of accounts confirmed to be under 16 – about 450,000 across Instagram and Facebook – to give them a choice between deleting their photos and other data or offering to store it until they turned 16.

TikTok, which says it has 200,000 under-16 accounts in Australia, and Snap, which says it has 440,000 under-16 accounts, said they would take similar steps.

The companies added that they would use automated behaviour-tracking software to determine if an account holder claiming to be over 16 was underage.

“Where we identify someone that is saying they’re 25 but the behaviours would indicate that they’re below the age of 16, from December 10th we will have those accounts deactivated,” Woods-Joyce said.

For users incorrectly deemed to be under 16, Meta and TikTok said they would refer them to a third-party age-estimation tool.

Snap said it was still working on a solution for users who believed they were incorrectly blocked.