Snapchat Reports Blocking 415,000 Teen Accounts in Australia
Snapchat has disclosed that it has restricted or disabled more than 415,000 accounts in Australia belonging to users who either self-reported being under 16 or were flagged as underage through the platform’s age detection technology. The announcement, made in early February 2026, comes roughly seven months after Australia implemented its landmark under-16 social media ban, which prohibits major platforms from allowing children under 16 to hold accounts.
The figure aligns with Meta’s earlier report of blocking approximately 544,000 accounts in compliance with the same law. Together, these numbers suggest significant enforcement efforts by the two largest social platforms operating in the country. Snapchat stated that the restrictions were applied based on a combination of self-declared age and proprietary age estimation systems.
The company highlighted technical limitations in age verification, noting: “There are real technical limitations to accurate and dependable age verification. The Australian government’s own trial, published in 2025, found that available age estimation technology was only accurate to within 2-3 years on average. In practice, this means some young people under 16 may be able to bypass protections, potentially leaving them with reduced safeguards, while others over 16 may incorrectly lose access.”
Snapchat also raised concerns about potential unintended consequences of the ban, particularly the risk of displacing underage users to less regulated or unregulated messaging services. The company emphasized that over 75% of time spent on Snapchat in Australia involves private messaging with close friends and family, and warned: “Young people won’t stop communicating when they lose access to regulated services… We’re concerned that when young people are cut off from these communication tools, some may turn to alternative messaging services that are not being regulated – services that may be less well-known and offer fewer safety protections than Snapchat provides.”
