Australia is proceeding with plans to pass legislation that would introduce online age verification (referred to as “age assurance”).
The proposal was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who explained that under the plan, users younger than 16 would be banned from using social platforms.
In order to make the proposal more palatable, Albanese framed it as “a gift” to parents, but also revealed that users themselves would not be held responsible or penalized for breaking the possible future law.
Instead, companies behind social media are the ones targeted by the planned legislation. Albanese mention Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, X, TikTok and Google’s YouTube as the kind of major sites that would be affected. Children under 16 would still be able to access social sites without parental consent – but only if they are logged out of accounts.
The task of the companies, according to the proposal, would be to show they are taking “reasonable steps” to stop minors under 16 from accessing their sites and apps. […]
— Read More: reclaimthenet.org
