What Australia’s age assurance report means for social media ban

As Australia’s youth social media ban approaches in December, the government-funded age assurance trial has just handed down its findings, which will form a major part of how the legislation is implemented.

Viewable online, the report states that age assurance “can be done” in Australia. It looked at multiple age verification methods, including facial recognition technology, ID checks, and parental controls.

However, the report conceded that a “margin of error” exists when using age estimation technology. As outlined in the age estimation part of the report, false negative rates — where age assurance methods incorrectly denied users access — varied between ages. It claimed that “systems consistently underperformed” across multiple age gates.

Under the Federal Government’s legislation, Australians under the age of 16 won’t be able to log into major social media platforms. This includes apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. YouTube’s belated inclusion caused controversy, although children can still watch content without logging in.

Age assurance methods and challenges

Australia has so far left it open to social media companies as to how they verify users’ ages. Communications Minister Anika Wells previously said that companies “have to provide an alternative to providing your own personal identification documents”.

However, the mixed results of the age verification trials have cast doubts on the legislation’s implementation. Some UK users dodged a similar online age verification policy by scanning the face of the Death Stranding 2 protagonist or by using VPNs.

Australia’s age assurance report also looked at the role of parental controls. It determined that while parental control systems “can be effective”, they “may fail to adapt to the evolving capacities of children” as they grow up.

Research commissioned by Snapchat earlier in the year found that more than half of Australian parents don’t use parental controls. Phone brand HMD recently launched the Fuse, a phone that actively blocks nude content and takes a more holistic approach to parental controls.

Among the challenges identified by the report was “concerning evidence” of excessive data retention. Some age verification techniques “could lead to increased risk of privacy breaches due to unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data.”

On the report’s findings, Minister Wells claimed “there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to age assurance”.

As reported by the ABC, Minister Wells will work with eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant in the coming weeks to decide on the next steps.

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