Latest news with #agecheck
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
How will Australia's under-16s social media ban be enforced, and which platforms will be exempt?
Australians using a range of social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and X will need to have their age checked to ensure they're 16 or older when the social media ban comes into effect from early December. Sign up: AU Breaking News email How will it work? And what information will people need to hand over? From 10 December, new laws will apply to platforms that meet the government's definition of an 'age-restricted social media platform', which has the sole or significant purpose of enabling social interaction with two or more users, and which allows users to post material on the service. The government has not specified by name any platforms that will be included in the ban, meaning any site that meets the above definition could be included except if they meet the exemptions released on Wednesday. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said that the covered platforms include – but are not limited to – Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat, and YouTube. The communications minister, Anika Wells, said these platforms would be expected to take reasonable steps to deactivate accounts for users under 16, prevent kids registering new accounts, check ages, and also prevent workarounds to bypass the restrictions. The government said platforms would be exempt if they had the primary purpose of: Messaging, emailing, voice calling or video calling. Playing online games. Sharing information about products or services. Professional networking or professional development. Education. Health. Communication between educational institutions and students or their families. Facilitating communication between providers of healthcare and people using those providers' services. It will be up to the eSafety commissioner to determine which platforms meet the criteria for an exemption. In practice, this means that LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Roblox, and Coursera would likely be exempt if assessed to meet the criteria. LinkedIn had previously argued to the government it was not of interest to children. In theory, it could also mean YouTube Kids could be exempt from the ban if it meets the criteria for an exemption, given it does not allow comments on videos. But the government has not confirmed this, and YouTube has not commented on whether it would seek an exemption for its service designed for children. Platforms that have not been named by the government but do not meet the exemption criteria will also need to consider whether they need to bring in age assurance by December. This would include services like Bluesky, Donald Trump's Truth Social platform, Discord and Twitch. A common misconception about the social media ban is that it will only apply to children. In order to ensure teens remain off social media, the platforms will need to check the ages of all user accounts in Australia. How they will do that is not prescribed, but it will be informed by the outcome of the age assurance technology trial, the full report of which is due in August. The government has legislated that although ID checks can be one form of age assurance, it can't be the only one accepted. It's expected Australia will follow a similar path for age assurance that launched in the UK in July, which includes options such as: Allowing banks and mobile providers to confirm a user is over 18. Asking site users to upload a photo that is then matched with photo ID. Use of facial age estimation technology. In addition to that, platforms could potentially infer user ages based on account behaviour or age. For example, if you signed up for Facebook in 2009, you would be over 16 by now. YouTube has also flagged it will use artificial intelligence to determine user ages. Albanese has compared the social media ban to alcohol restrictions, and said there will no doubt be children who manage to get around the ban, but he argued it was still worth doing. In the UK, where age verification was brought in this week for accessing pornography websites, there has been a surge in people using virtual private networks (VPNs), which hide a user's real location, enabling access to blocked websites. Four of the top five free apps on the Apple app store in the UK on Thursday were VPN apps, with Proton, the most popular, reporting a 1,800% increase in downloads. The Australian government has said it expects the platforms will implement 'reasonable steps' to account for how teens may seek to avoid the ban. Platforms that do not take what the eSafety commissioner determines to be 'reasonable steps' to keep kids off their service can face a fine of up to $49.5m that will be determined in the federal court. What 'reasonable steps' means will be up to the commissioner to determine. When asked on Wednesday, Wells said: 'I think reasonable steps is reasonable.' 'These are meant to be working rules, and they also need to sort of correct any errors as they arise. Because these are not set-and-forget rules, these are set-and-support rules. They are world-leading. But this is manifestly too important for us not to have a crack.'
The Independent
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Dozens of porn websites probed over new age checks
Ofcom has launched investigations into four companies operating 34 pornography websites for non-compliance with new age-check requirements under the UK's Online Safety Act. The regulator is examining whether these websites, which collectively attract nine million UK visitors monthly, have sufficient measures in place to protect children from inappropriate content. These companies join others, such as 4chan, already under investigation by Ofcom for allegedly allowing users to access illegal content. The Online Safety Act grants Ofcom powers to impose fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of worldwide revenue, whichever is larger, for non-compliance. Ofcom can also seek court orders for 'business disruption measures,' including forcing payment providers or advertisers to cease services, or banning internet companies from allowing access to non-compliant sites.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ofcom launches investigation into new age checks on 34 pornography websites
The UK's internet watchdog has launched an investigation into how four companies - that collectively run 34 pornography sites - are complying with new age-check requirements. Last week, new rules came into force requiring sites that allow adult content to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18. But Ofcom has now opened formal investigations into whether some providers have put effective age checks in place. These companies - 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd - run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, Ofcom said. Read more: What is the Online Safety Bill? The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers. It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites. Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months. Read more: The regulator can impose fines of up to £18 million, or 10% of worldwide revenue (whichever is greater) if sites are found to have compliance failures. "Where appropriate, in the most serious cases, we can seek a court order for business disruption measures, such as requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform, or requiring internet service providers to block access to a site in the UK," Ofcom said. Five days since Ofcom's new internet regulations began being enforced, more than 450,000 people have signed a petition asking for them to be repealed. Adult content creators, meanwhile, have accused the government of censoring social media feeds. In response to the petition, the government said it had "no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act".
Sky News
31-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Ofcom launches investigation into new age checks on 34 pornography websites
The UK's internet watchdog has launched an investigation into how four companies - that collectively run 34 pornography sites - are complying with new age-check requirements. Last week, new rules came into force requiring sites that allow adult content to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18. But Ofcom has now opened formal investigations into whether some providers have put effective age checks in place. These companies - 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd - run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, Ofcom said. The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers. 5:23 It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites. Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months. The regulator can impose fines of up to £18 million, or 10% of worldwide revenue (whichever is greater) if sites are found to have compliance failures. "Where appropriate, in the most serious cases, we can seek a court order for business disruption measures, such as requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform, or requiring internet service providers to block access to a site in the UK," Ofcom said. Five days since Ofcom's new internet regulations began being enforced, more than 450,000 people have signed a petition asking for them to be repealed. Adult content creators, meanwhile, have accused the government of censoring social media feeds. In response to the petition, the government said it had "no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act".
