SYDNEY: Australia has urged social media platforms to employ “minimally invasive” methods to check the age of users covered by its world-first teen social media ban, which take into account artificial intelligence or AI and behavioural data.
Governments and tech firms worldwide are closely watching Australia’s effort to become the first country to block use of social media by those younger than 16, starting from December.
“eSafety recommends the most minimally invasive techniques available,” the internet watchdog said in its guidance for firms to comply with the law passed in November.
Social media platforms are not required to conduct blanket age-verification as firms can use existing data to infer age reliably, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.
“We know that they have the targeting technology to do this,” she told a media briefing. They can target us with deadly precision when it comes to advertising, certainly they can do this around the age of a child.”
She added, “Adults should not see huge changes ... it would be unreasonable if platforms re-verify everyone’s age.” The ban includes Alphabet’s YouTube. — Reuters
