SYDNEY — Tech giants Meta and TikTok said Tuesday they will obey Australia’s under-16 social media ban but warned the landmark laws could prove difficult to enforce.

Australia will from December 10 force social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to remove users under the age of 16.

There is keen interest in whether Australia’s sweeping restrictions can work, as regulators around the globe wrestle with the dangers of social media.

Both TikTok and Meta—the parent company of Facebook and Instagram—said the ban would be hard to police, but agreed they would abide by it.

“Put simply, TikTok will comply with the law and meet our legislative obligations,” the firm’s Australia policy lead Ella Woods-Joyce told a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world.

But with just over a month until it comes into effect, Australia is scrambling to fill in key questions around enforcement and firms’ obligations.

TikTok warned the “blunt” age ban could have a raft of unintended consequences.

“Experts believe a ban will push younger people into darker corners of the Internet where protections don’t exist,” said Woods-Joyce.