The Australian government’s planned ban on children under 16 from certain social media platforms depends on the ability of these apps to accurately identify underage users.
To explore this, the government has funded an age assurance technology trial, with preliminary findings recently released.
The trial team stated that age assurance is feasible in Australia and can be implemented in a way that is private, robust, and effective.
Project director Tony Allen said there are no major technological barriers to deploying effective age verification systems that can integrate flexibly with existing services while protecting children’s safety and rights online.
Most companies involved in the trial use facial verification or combined methods such as ID checks and parental authorization.
However, the trial does not directly address the government’s social media ban policy, which creates challenges for fully assessing its effectiveness in enforcing the under-16 restriction.
Some systems report over 99% accuracy in identifying children aged 0-12 as under 16, but their accuracy declines when differentiating older teens—e.g., a 15-year-old might be identified only as under 21.
This uncertainty raises concerns, as these technologies may not reliably distinguish between children just under 16 and those just over, especially around birthdays when access legally changes.
Since law prohibits forcing children to use government ID, social media platforms need alternative verification methods, but current trials do not yet offer a clear solution for this critical issue.
