SYDNEY: Australia will not mandate that social media platforms verify the ages of all users under its new ban prohibiting children under 16 from accessing these services.
The government clarified that platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube must instead take reasonable steps to prevent underage access.
This approach has raised concerns among experts who fear the legislation may become largely symbolic and unenforceable in practice.
Social media companies have already criticised the laws as vague, problematic and rushed through without sufficient detail.
Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that platforms must implement reasonable steps to detect and deactivate accounts belonging to underage users.
She emphasised that social media companies have no excuse for failing to meet their obligations under the new regulatory framework.
The newly released guidelines specify that platforms should adopt a multilayered approach to age checking rather than universal verification.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner acknowledged that no single solution exists to perfectly enforce this world-first legislation.
The commissioner confirmed that platforms will not need to age verify every Australian user to achieve compliance.
Social media companies face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars for violations of these rules.
An independent government-commissioned study recently found that age verification can be done privately and effectively.
The eSafety Commission is also introducing additional rules to protect children from harmful online content including pornography.
These rules will target what the commissioner describes as lawful but awful material that poses risks to young users.
Gaming platform Roblox Corporation has already agreed to implement new safeguards against adult grooming of children in Australia. – AFP
