Australia: Moves to Protect Kids Online with Age Verification Rules

Australia is taking steps to protect children under 16 from accessing age-restricted social media platforms through a new law.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 was introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to amend the Online Safety Act 2021, requiring social media companies to verify users’ ages and block underage children from creating accounts on platforms that restrict access based on age. On 29 November 2024, the bill was successfully passed in both houses of Parliament.

What Platforms Are Covered?

The bill targets social media platforms designed for online interactions and content sharing among users. It applies to services that:

• Focus primarily on enabling social interactions.

• Allow users to link with or interact with others on the platform.

• Let users post content.

Platforms that don’t have users in Australia or are exempt under specific rules won’t be affected.

Key Requirements

Social media platforms will need to take “reasonable steps” to ensure children under 16 cannot create accounts. To protect users’ privacy, any information collected to verify ages must be securely destroyed once it has served its purpose.

This proposed legislation reflects Australia’s commitment to strengthening online safety for young users.

The full bill is officially available here