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Australia's social media ban prompts 4.7M account purge

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Major platforms removed 4.7 million accounts following Australia's groundbreaking social media ban for children. The data marks the first official measure of the policy's impact, showing a massive enforcement effort by companies complying with the new law. This purge directly addresses the ban's core mandate to block underage users.

Australia's legislation, a global first, forced platforms to implement strict age verification and account removal processes. The move reflects growing international concern about youth mental health and online safety. Other nations are now closely watching this experiment to gauge effectiveness and potential regulatory models for their own markets.

The scale of the purge highlights the technical and operational challenges facing social media giants. Compliance requires balancing user privacy with age verification demands. Future enforcement will be scrutinized, as the industry and regulators assess whether this drastic measure meaningfully reduces children's access to these platforms.