Australia Is Planning to Set Age Restriction on Social Media and Video Games

• Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has announced that he is planning to impose an age restriction on access to social media and gaming platforms.
• The exact details are yet to be decided but the proposed age restriction is between 14 to 16 years.
• The legislation is expected to reach the parliament before the next election.

Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced that the government is planning to impose an age restriction to access social media and gaming platforms in order to protect teens from harmful content.

The age limit could be between 14 and 16 - we will find out about the exact age limit after the conclusion of an age-verification trial, which is now in its final phase.

If this rule is really imposed, social media platforms will have to work fast to find a way to impose it. Albanese agreed that it might be impossible to protect every single child, but at least a step in the right direction has to be taken.

He also sympathized with the parents who are equally boggled and confused about how to protect their kids in such a technologically driven world. Albanese agrees that no other generation before had to deal with this problem. So he just wants the parents to know that the government has got their back.

What's the Status of the Bill?

A 276-page report explaining how the law will work is already ready. It was written by former high court chief justice, Robert French, and was commissioned by the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas. The report favors setting the age limit at 14.

If everything goes well, it will be introduced to the parliament before the next election, which will be held next year.

This is no different to cigarettes or alcohol. When a product or service hurts children, governments must act' - Peter Malinauskas

Will This Law Actually Be Effective?

That's hard to say right now but one thing's for sure, this won't be an easy journey. Up until now, no country has managed to mandate age verification without any issue. This is not just a claim. This is what documents released by the eSafety commissioner say.

The first issue would be choosing the right way to check a user's age. The UK, which is working on a similar legislation, has outlined 5 ways to do it:

• Ask the bank to verify the user's age (if they are above 18)
• Ask the user's mobile service provider to verify the age
• Ask the user to upload a photo and then match it with their photo ID
• Check their credit card information to verify their age
• Use facial age estimation technology

The last idea is probably not going to happen because the authorities are not sure how effective it will be on young users. Plus, facial age estimation companies have already disputed it.

There's a 6th method recommended by the eSafety commissioner. It requires the presence of a third party that will handle the verification process on a device level. For example, Google and Apple can verify the ages of their users before allowing them to download a particular app.

Each method comes with its unique set of problems. And even if the least problematic option is chosen, the next challenge would be to build the necessary technology and workflow for it,

Other Concerns

Let's assume that everything works smoothly and we are finally able to come up with the strict age verification law paired with the perfect technology to support it. But the problems don't end there.

A law like this, which requires social media companies to verify everyone's ages, will mean that they can collect user information. This will lead to privacy concerns among users, and rightfully so. Then, we will need another set of rules to govern how this information is used.

And after all these steps, there's still no guarantee that it will be effective because users can always use VPN.

In fact, according to reports in Utah and Louisiana (the two US states that introduced age restriction), VPN usage increased by 1000% and 3-fold respectively, after the restriction was imposed.

But as the French authorities have said, despite all these challenges ahead, this path is worth pursuing.

There will undoubtedly be workarounds by knowledgeable child users. However, the perfect should not be the enemy of the good," it added.

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