Australia warns social media platforms against age verification for all ahead of a ban on children

Authorities say that social media platforms should not require age verification for all users when a ban on children under 16 having accounts goes into effect in December in Australia By ROD MCGUIRK Associated Press September 16, 2025, 2:21 AM MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian authorities said Tuesday that social media platforms should not demand age verification for all account holders starting from December, when a ban on children under 16 having accounts goes into effect in the country. The government released guidelines on how platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram should apply the world’s first ban on children using social media from Dec. 10. It says verifying the ages of all account holders would be unreasonable. “We think it would be unreasonable if platforms reverified everyone’s age,” said Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who drafted the guidelines. Her use of the word “reverified” suggested the platforms usually already had sufficient data to verify a user was older than 16. She said the platforms have “targeting technology” to focus on those under 16. “They can target us with deadly precision when it comes to advertising. Certainly they can do this around the age of a child,”
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