International tech giants Meta, TikTok and Snapchat announced on Tuesday that they will comply with Australia’s under-16 social media ban, once it takes effect on 10 December.

Australia’s Parliament approved the law, which requires social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok to remove users under 16. Tech companies could face fines up to $32.5 million for non-compliance.

Although the platforms agreed to abide by the law, they warned that the landmark law could prove difficult to enforce and raised concerns about imposing such a law, AFP reported.

What are the difficulties?

Snapchat, ByteDance’s TikTok and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) said the ban would be hard to police, but confirmed they would comply with the regulations.

Meta’s policy director, Mia Garlick, said the firm was still solving “numerous challenges,” including identifying and removing hundreds of thousands of users under 16 by the 10 December deadline. However, she also said the process is difficult and poses “significant new engineering and age assurance challenges.”

TikTok’s Australia policy lead, Ella Woods-Joyce, was present in the Senate hearing on Tuesday. She commented, “TikTok will comply with the law and meet our legislative obligations.” However, the short video platform also cautioned that the “blunt” age ban could have unintended consequences.

Snapchat owner Snap’s Senior Vice President of global policy and platform operations, via a video link, shared the sentiments of other social media platforms. She said, “We don’t agree, but we accept and we will abide by the law.”

Experts fear banning younger users from social media will simply push them towards “darker corners of the Internet where protections don’t exist,” said Woods-Joyce.

While social media companies are not required to verify the ages of all users, they must take “reasonable steps” to detect and deactivate underage accounts. Companies found to be flouting the law will face substantial fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32.5 million).

Tech industry’s criticism

There is keen interest in whether Australia’s sweeping restrictions would work or not, as regulators around the globe have been contemplating the dangers of accessing social media at a young age.

Australia’s under-16 social media ban is considered one of the strictest in the world, on paper. With just over a month until the law comes into effect, the nation is scrambling to fill in key questions around enforcement and firms’ obligations.

The tech industry has largely criticised Australia’s ban, calling it “vague,” “problematic,” and “rushed,” AFP reported.

Video streaming platform YouTube, which also falls under the ban, expressed concerns earlier this month.

Local spokeswoman Rachel Lord said, “The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce, it also does not fulfil its promise of making kids safer online.”

Australia’s online watchdog recently said the ban could extend to other platforms, including messaging service WhatsApp, streaming platform Twitch and gaming site Roblox, AFP reported.