Snapchat Locks 415,000 Underage Accounts in Australia as Ban Enforces Strict Age Limits

TLDR:

Snapchat has locked or disabled over 415,000 accounts in Australia for users under 16 in compliance with the nation's social media minimum age law, which began on December 10, 2025, while broader enforcement across platforms has restricted access to 4.7 million such accounts nationwide.

Snap Inc. released a statement on February 2, 2026, detailing its enforcement actions under Australia's social media ban for users under 16.

Snapchat has locked or disabled over 415,000 user accounts in Australia belonging to users who either declared an age under 16 or whom the platform identified as under 16 through age detection technology.

"As of the end of January 2026, we have locked or disabled over 415,000 Snapchat accounts in Australia belonging to users who either declared an age under 16 or who we believe to be under 16 based on our age detection technology," the statement read.

We continue to lock more accounts daily. They added further.

The law requires platforms to prevent under-16s from holding accounts and carries penalties of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars for failures to comply.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner gathered initial figures showing that major social media companies restricted access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children under 16 during the first half of December 2025.

The platforms involved include Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted the early results on January 16, 2026.

"More than 4.7 million under-16 social media accounts being deactivated because of our world-first social media minimum age law is a huge achievement," he stated.

The ban exempts messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.