Ammon News - 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.

The government should require app stores to verify the age of users when they download apps and ask for parental approval for under-16s, Meta said, as this would eliminate the need for teens to verify their age across different apps.

Last month, Meta said users it had identified as under 16 would be able to download and save their posts, videos and messages before their accounts are deactivated.

Alongside Meta's three platforms, the other social media sites affected by the ban are YouTube, X, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick and Twitch.

BBC