Australia struggling to implement age verification for teen social media ban
- Australia’s world-first law, implemented in December, bans under-16s from social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, requiring operators to take “reasonable steps” for age verification.
- A study by software testers KJR found that major platforms failed to request age proof for any of 50 test accounts opened after the law came into force, despite the declared age being 16.
- This highlights a significant flaw where initial online activity vetting is not triggering further age verification checks for users who claim to be 16.
- Only Australia-based live-streaming platform Kick refused account creation without proof of age, while other platforms, including X, allowed test accounts to access content, with one X account receiving pornography.
- The ban has been widely criticised for its ineffectiveness, prompting the Australian government to double maximum fines and threaten legal action against tech giants for non-compliance.
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