(MENAFN- Live Mint) 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 to force social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok to remove users under 16 and stated that tech companies can be fined up to $32.5 million if they don't comply with the rules.

Despite agreeing to abide by the law, all these social media platforms have warned that the landmark law could prove difficult to enforce, along with stating the dangers of imposing such a law, AFP reported.

What are the difficulties?

Snapchat, ByteDance's TikTok and Meta - the parent company of Facebook and Instagram - said that the ban would be hard to police, but agreed that they would obey the country's rules.

Meta's policy director, Mia Garlick, said that 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 that the process is difficult and poses“significant new engineering and age assurance challenges.”

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TikTok's Australia policy lead Ella Woods-Joyce was present in the Senate hearing on Tuesday, where she stated,“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.

“We don't agree, but we accept and we will abide by the law,” said Jennifer Stout, Snap's senior vice president of global policy and platform operations, via a video link, sharing the sentiments of other social media platforms.

Experts fear that banning younger user 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 Aus$49.5 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 has been described as 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 been united in its criticisms of Australia's ban, which has been described as“vague,”“problematic,” and“rushed,” news agency AFP reported.

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Video streaming platform YouTube, which also falls under the ban expressed concerns earlier this month, stating that Australia's efforts were well intentioned but poorly thought through.

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

Furthermore, Australia's online watchdog has also recently suggested that the ban could extend to other platforms, including messaging service WhatsApp, streaming platform Twitch and gaming site Roblox, AFP reported.

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