TikTok, Meta and Snapchat have faced a parliamentary inquiry into the teen social media ban, confirming they will deactivate, delete or freeze accounts of those under 16 when the new law comes into effect in December.
The social media company executives — who appeared remotely via video call — were questioned about potential harm inflicted on young people by the platforms, age assurance technology measures, and whether they would comply with the impending ban.
TiKTok was also asked by a Nationals senator if it was a "bullying behemoth" as he accused the social media giant of bullying his office.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young previously threatened to force executives to appear at the inquiry into online safety after they were no-shows at an earlier hearing, but all three companies agreed to give their views on the social media ban at the hearing without a subpoena.
Companies to comply with 'unevenly applied' ban
TikTok, Meta, and Snapchat have confirmed they will comply with the social media ban, though they have expressed concerns about the new law.
Jennifer Stout, Snap's senior vice president of global policy and platform operations, said Snapchat should be excluded as it could be classified as a messaging service, which is supposed to be excluded under the ban. However, it said it would apply with the "unevenly applied" ban.
"We will comply with the law, even though we believe it has been unevenly applied and risks undermining community confidence in the law," Stout said.
"Beginning 10 December, we will disable accounts for Australian Snapchatters under 16. We know this will be difficult for young people who use Snapchat to communicate with their closest friends and family."
While TikTok said it would also comply, its director of public policy in Australia, Ella Woods-Joyce, said the ban could cause more harm.
"Experts believe the ban will push younger people into darker corners of the internet where rules, safety tools and protections don't exist," Woods-Joyce said.
Meta will also deactivate any accounts for users under 16 on 10 December, its director of policy in Australia, Mia Garlick, said, ending speculation that the media giant's new teen accounts feature would pave the way for an exemption.
Its teen accounts feature is automatically applied to users under 18 and includes additional built-in safety and privacy settings, such as content restrictions, contact limitations, and screen time management tools.
The ban will result in about 1.5 million accounts across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads and X being deactivated.
While children under 16 will be banned from social media platforms, there are some exceptions for health and education services, including WhatsApp and Meta's Messenger Kids.
New details about the ban's implementation
The Senate inquiry also revealed more details about how each company would implement the ban.
Snapchat and TikTok will archive content — including posts, photos, and videos — as part of the process of freezing accounts.
Snapchat will implement a tool, Download My Data, to help affected users secure photos and communications before accounts are locked. It also questioned temporarily "freezing" — rather than deactivating — accounts of those close to the age of 16.
Affected TikTok users will be able to deactivate, suspend or delete their accounts, with an archive feature available. It said it would use additional measures, including monitoring users' "behaviours" to further verify their age.
Meta users will have the option to delete, deactivate or temporarily pause their accounts, but said they were "still working through the precise wording and flows".
Meta will use a third-party provider, Yoti, to enforce age assurance technology, giving people the option to submit a video selfie, an age estimation approach, or provide government identification, Garlick said.
Concerns about age verification technology
The social media ban is the first of its kind in the world, with TikTok's Woods-Joyce saying the company was "doing the best we can" to navigate the new requirements.
Still, the platforms expressed concerns about challenges associated with the rollout of the ban, particularly age verification and age assurance measures.
The ban requires affected social media companies to take "reasonable steps" and "have appropriate measures in place" to prevent underage users from creating or using accounts. That includes deactivating accounts and implementing age verification measures to prevent new account creation.
Failure to do so could attract fines of up to $49.5 million.
While the government has noted there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all companies, age assurance technology might involve using age estimation via AI, facial age analysis, and identity document verification to verify someone's age.
The Snapchat executive said there were "privacy risks" associated with age assurance technology and said they would be "supportive" of device age assurance, which would mean someone's age would be verified when purchasing a device, rather than when apps are downloaded.
"Google and Apple have not set that up, but we're going to do the best we can to comply," Stout said.
The Age Assurance Technology Trial report, commissioned by the federal government and released in August 2025, said "age assurance can be done in Australia privately, efficiently and effectively". It found there were "no substantial technological limitations" in its implementation and said "secure data handling practices" were available.
Google previously told the inquiry the ban would be extremely difficult to enforce, and a lack of detail around how the platforms plan to implement age verification systems has clouded the ban since its announcement.
Nationals senator accuses TikTok of bullying
The inquiry also witnessed Nationals senator Ross Cadell accuse a TikTok staff member of intimidation and bullying following questions he was asking about the age assurance inquiry.
He alleged a TikTok staff member called his office and said: "We get on very well with the leader's office, we get on very well with the shadow minister's office. You shouldn't be asking these questions."
Woods-Joyce said she was "not aware of the details that you're talking about", adding the TikTok team "needs to operate professionally and appropriately at all times, and I have confidence that that's what we do".
Cadell asked Woods-Joyce if TikTok was a "bullying behemoth that wants to get its own way at any cost", to which she responded, "absolutely not".
— With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
