Murray Olds: Australian correspondent on Meta closing teen accounts ahead of Aussie social media ban

Australian teenagers have been warned their accounts of Facebook, Instagram and Threads will be shut down ahead of the country's incoming social media ban.

Meta has confirmed it has started notifying users between 13 and 15 years old by text, email and in-app messages that their accounts would be deactivated come December. 

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Meta has encouraged young users to download their content now, before the data gets removed.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International correspondence with ends in Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business Murray OL's Assie correspondence with that FAMAS.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Very good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Okay, so it's just a couple of weeks, is it,
and phase he's going to start kicking the kids off.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well a little bit longer. But in fact, the tenth
of December is the date that this ban on under
sixteen's using social media comes into force in Australia, first
country in the world to do this. But what the
big you know, the big social media giant MATA has
done is send out a warning letter, if you like,

(00:37):
a warning email to all the kids who are on
these platforms. In a fortnight, we're going to start turning
off your accounts, so you either have to download or
delete or you're going to lose the data. Now, if
the children want to dispute this, they have to have
facial scans or prove that they're actually sixteen or over.

(00:57):
Now Matters told the Federal government hundreds of fouls of
accounts will be removed by December the tenth. Almost every
single matter platform Heather's covered. The only exception appears to
be Messenger, but things like Facebook, Insta, threads, TikTok, snapchat, YouTube, Reddit,
kick x. The list goes on. All of these are
going to be banned to under sixteens, along with lots

(01:18):
of warning messages. Account Holders also being urged to provide
contact details. I mean, this is a commercial opportunity here.
Don't forget kids. When you turn sixteen, come back, give
us some contact details and we'll be in touch as
soon as you turn sixteen.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, that's a fair point that you make this.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
What's going on? See how it works?

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well? Do you are you a douter?

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, I just want to know how on earth it's
going to be policed. I mean, a mums and dad's
going to do it. They've done a pretty poor job
up to now. A mums and dad's going to be
at this or the losses? Please? Is that going to work?
Let's have to wait and see. I mean Australia is
the guinea pig here.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, I mean, look, does it have to work one
hundred percent beautifully perfectly for it to work?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Now? I get that. I mean, you know, the perfect
counts down in.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
The way of the good right exactly?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, you see how it goes. I'm a skeptic. But
I'm not the only one too. But let's see.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
I mean, because think about it like this, muzz Right,
we ban kids under the age of eighteen from buying fags.
Sometimes kids still managed to get the hands on fags,
and but for that we don't go all better if
that band, then we still think it's worth the ban, right,
because we still think it's worth true. Yeah, so I
think no, I mean, I think it is fair to
have some questions about this. But I just wonder if

(02:27):
we're getting tripped up a little bit, as you say,
worrying about the perfect when we can just try the
good Listen, tell me what's going on with these drive bys?
Do we know what's going on here?

Speaker 2 (02:34):
What was another well? Last night in Sydney Southwest Sydney
there were three in four hours. Two homes and a
business were shot up, but luckily no one hurt. In
one of the home shootings, there was only one bullet.
Five I say, only one bullet. I mean they're not
trying hard enough. Police now investigating whether they are link.
There were two cars set alight in the wake of

(02:55):
these three shootings. Now police set up earlier this year
a special task for because basically they've lost candle. A
number of shootings this year alone. It's the underworld fighting
each other over the drug trade. Extremely lucrative as you
might expect in the city of five and a half
six million people, a lot of people using Persian rugs
and a lot of money to be made when you

(03:16):
sell and distribute them. So police, you know, they say
I've got a handle on it, but she was last
night three and four hours. Certainly doesn't seem so. The
poor buggers who were copping the bullets.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Master, did you just say persian rugs?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh, I'm sorry, I may have done. I mean drugs, Sorry,
Persian drugs.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
I thought, geez, the Persian rugs. I reckon. I've got
a couple under the basement that minded to whip them out,
all right, buzz Thanks, I really really appreciated Murray Old's
Australia correspondent. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen
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