Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) deactivated more than 756,000 Australian accounts suspected of belonging to users under 16 between December and June 30. The company cited compliance with Australia’s landmark social media ban, which took effect on Dec. 10 and requires platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent minors from holding accounts.

Account Takedown Breakdown

The removals were split across Meta’s two primary platforms. Instagram accounted for the majority of the deletions, with 462,000 accounts deactivated compared to 294,000 on Facebook. Meta stated it is using artificial intelligence to flag contextual clues, such as birthday posts or school-grade mentions, to identify underage users.

"Enforcement is ongoing, and these numbers will continue to grow," Meta said in a statement, adding it is "meeting our obligations under the law."

Regulatory Pressure Builds

Australian regulators have accused platforms of setting the ban up to fail. Legislation has been introduced to double the maximum non-compliance penalty to A$99 million (about $69.75 million). Regulators are also weighing an enforcement lawsuit against platforms found non-compliant.

Representatives of Meta, TikTok, Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG, NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google, and Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) are set to appear before a parliamentary inquiry Friday alongside regulatory and government officials. This follows similar moves by the UK Prime Minister, who announced plans for a comparable ban inspired by Australia’s restrictions.

Separately, Meta, Google, and TikTok face a proposed tax equal to 2.25% of revenue for firms that do not comply with news media bargaining codes. This measure aims to fund Australian news publishers, adding further regulatory pressure on top of the age-verification crackdown.

Stock Performance

Meta has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion. The stock closed the regular session on Wednesday at $578.85, down 3.38%. In pre-market trading on Thursday, META gained 0.58% to $582.20. Year to date, the stock has fallen 12.31%. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate META stock has a negative price trend across all time frames.

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) shares fell 3.23% to $579.77 on Wednesday, significantly underperforming the broader market. The decline outpaced the Communication Services sector’s 0.8% drop by roughly 2.23 percentage points, leaving Meta among the day’s weakest performers.

The stock’s weakness aligns with a deteriorating technical setup. Meta entered the session trading below its 20-day ($601.14), 50-day ($597.92), 100-day ($608.17), and 200-day ($629.17) simple moving averages. This alignment indicates an intermediate downtrend, reinforced by a death cross in December 2025 when the 50-day average crossed below the 200-day. Although the 20-day average remains above the 50-day, offering slight near-term support, momentum indicators remain bearish. The MACD indicator sits below its signal line with a negative histogram, signaling fading upward momentum.

Technical Levels and Market Position

Traders are monitoring $606 as key resistance, a level near the 100-day average where previous rallies have stalled. Support is identified at $577, where dip buyers have recently emerged. The stock remains well below its 52-week high of $796.25, sitting in the lower half of its 52-week range of $520.26 to $796.25. Over the past 12 months, shares have declined 26.26%, keeping Meta in recovery mode until it can reclaim ground around its 200-day average.

Fundamental Strength vs. Momentum Weakness

Despite the price action, fundamental metrics suggest underlying business strength. Meta’s Benzinga Edge scorecard shows a strong growth score of 74.93, indicating solid underlying performance. Quality sits at a neutral 66.95, suggesting the pressure stems from trend and positioning rather than balance sheet concerns. Value scores a neutral 54.02, implying shares may require clearer growth reacceleration to justify higher valuations. However, momentum scores weak at 12 out of 100, consistent with the technical breakdown.

Regulatory Headwinds

Adding to the negative sentiment, Meta faced regulatory scrutiny after a German digital rights group, HateAid, filed a criminal complaint against the company and other retailers. The complaint cites privacy concerns tied to the company’s Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, according to Reuters.

What the Numbers Show

The divergence between Meta’s strong growth score (74.93) and its weak momentum score (12) highlights a disconnect between fundamental performance and market sentiment. While the underlying business metrics remain robust, the technical structure—specifically the position below all major moving averages and the negative MACD histogram—suggests that short-term trading dynamics are currently overriding fundamental value in driving price action.