SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Australian teens under the age of 16 are no longer allowed on the world’s most popular social media platforms as the first ban of its type took effect Wednesday local time. Platforms that are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Reddit, Twitch and YouTube, will face millions of dollars in fines if caught failing to comply with the law.

The list of social media platforms that must bar children under 16 years old from having accounts also includes TikTok, X, Snapchat and livestreaming service Kick. Each of the 10 companies could be punished with fines up to $32.9 million (49.5 million Australian dollars) if they do not take reasonable steps to exclude the age group.

Menlo Park-based Meta had estimated that its user bas

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