Around 550,000 accounts were blocked by Meta during the first days of Australia's historic social media ban for children.
In December, a new law began requiring the world's most popular social media sites - including Instagram and Facebook - to ban Australians under 16 from having accounts on their platforms.
The ban, which is being closely watched around the world, was justified by activists and the government as necessary to protect children from harmful content and algorithms.
Companies, including Meta, have said they agree that more is needed to keep young people safe online.
However, they continue to argue for other measures, with some experts raising similar concerns.
"We call on the Australian government to engage constructively with the industry to find a better way forward, such as encouraging the entire industry to raise the bar in providing safe, privacy-preserving and age-appropriate online experiences, rather than blanket bans," Meta said in a blog update.
However, the company said it blocked 330,639 accounts on Instagram, 173,497 on Facebook and 39,916 on Threads during the first week of compliance with the new law.
Governments from the US state of Florida to the European Union have experimented with restricting children's use of social media. But, along with a higher age limit of 16, Australia is the first jurisdiction to deny an exemption for parental consent to such a policy - making its laws the strictest in the world. /Telegraph/
