The tech giants will implement multiple security systems Prevent minors under 16 from accessing social media in Australiain application of a groundbreaking law on the matter, which comes into force this Wednesday, December 10th.
If they can’t use “sensible” practices to restrict network usage to younger users, the companies behind the sites like it Instagram, TikTok and YouTube face high fines.
TO ten of the largest platforms They have been ordered to refuse entry to minors under the age of 16 or face a fine of up to $33,000,000. The law was heavily criticized by major tech companies and free speech advocates, but it was praised by parents and child advocates.
Of the top ten (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Kick, and Twitch), everyone except Elon Musk’s X said this will comply with regulations using age qualifications – Guess someone’s age based on their online activity – or Age estimate usually based on a selfie. They could also verify this by uploading identification documents or linked bank account details.
These are some of them Main methods This is intended to provide Australians under the age of 16 with access to these social networks.
It seems simple: to prove that you are 16 years old, you can show an ID card, passport or driving license. Why not do the same thing before TikTok or Snapchat? This is because the system cannot rely on the goodwill of younger adolescents who could use their parents’ or older siblings’ documents to try to fool the system by pretending to be older.
Hence Australia told platforms not to ask users to show ID published by the Australian Government. Instead, some platforms rely on external services to simplify this process for users who choose to confirm their date of birth using this system.
For example, users who have a Snapchat account can do this Prove your age through an Australian bank account or show yours Identity card in Singapore child.
“The documents you provide will only be used to verify your age,” says Snap, Snapchat’s parent company. “Snap only captures a ‘yes/no’ result as to whether someone is over the minimum age,” he explains.
Snapchat users can do it too Take a selfie that will be used to calculate your age. Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, hired London-based Yoti to check Australian teenagers’ ID documents and selfies.
“The algorithm has gotten very good at recognizing patterns and determining: ‘This face with these patterns looks like a 17-year-old or a 28-year-old,'” says Yoti President Robin Tombs. Yoti AI can calculate a person’s age in a minute.
The company, which also used TikTok, ensures that its tool is capable of this Detect if there is a real person behind the camera and not a photo or video.
However, there is concern that false results could occur if the person taking the selfie is around 16 years old or if they figure out how to cheat the system. In fact, an estimate by the Australian government itself suggests that self-portrait is the least secure method of age confirmation.
Not all Australian users are required to prove their age. only those who are suspected of not having reached the required age.
Goal began disabling accounts based on the age they declared its users when they created it.
With so much data being exchanged, platforms are not short of resources Estimate the age of users: from the type of content consumed (a teenager is likely to look for more video game tricks than how to remove tartar from the shower) to the fact that the use of the social network occurs on school days and hours.
The Congratulations from friends stating their age are also a clueor if the email address has been used for adult purposes at any time.
This is data that companies already use for more targeted advertising. But that also raises privacy issues.
TikTok, meanwhile, says it will apply a Multiple method that combines “technology and human facilitation”. to detect teen accounts that entered an incorrect age when creating an account.
YouTube, for its part, will determine the age of the person behind an account “based on the age associated with their Google account and other signals, and we will continue to examine how we implement and apply appropriate age assessment,” it said in a statement.
Australian Digital Security Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said: “a cascade of effective techniques and tools“Mistakes can be avoided.” Naturally There is no solution that is 100% effective constantly,” said the Internet Security Observatory.
According to Andy Lulham of age verification company Verifymy, enforcing the law will not be without obstacles. “Methods for calculating age do not always workespecially among those who have just turned 16 but do not have or do not want to use ID,” he noted.
“In such cases, a responsible adult could be asked to vouch for the child’s eligibility.”
With information from AFP and Reuters
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