Meta has started removing Australian children under 16 years old from its Instagram, Facebook and Threads platforms, a week before an official teen social media ban begins.

The tech giant announced last month it had begun notifying users aged between 13 to 15 years old that their accounts would start being shut down from 4 December.

An estimated 150,000 Facebook users and 350,000 Instagram accounts are expected to be affected. Threads, similar to X, can only be accessed via an Instagram account.

Australia's world-first social media ban starts on 10 December, with companies facing fines of up to A$49.5m (US$33m, £25m) if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to stop under-16s from having accounts.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxekqryn1jo