Saturday, 21 June, 2025

Australian Trial Backs Age-Verification Tech for Under‑16 Social Media Ban—But Flaws Emerge

Australia’s government-backed trial of age-verification technologies involving over 1,000 teens and adults found systems to be “private, robust, and effective” for enforcing a December ban on under‑16s using social media. While no major technical hurdles were reported, inconsistencies persist—facial recognition misclassified ages within an 18-month range, and privacy concerns linger amid data over-collection. The final report will inform platform consultation and implementation.