Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Begins Dec 10 - Major Compliance + Privacy Impact

https://www.technadu.com/australia-social-media-ban-age-verification-and-privacy-rules/615237/

Platforms will face $49.5M AUD penalties if they fail to enforce age checks. Verification pathways include biometrics, government IDs, financial details, and behavior-tracking signals. Experts highlight the privacy implications of scaling such data collection across multiple platforms.

VPN-based workarounds are expected - but may expose young users to malicious apps or shady operators.

#Australia #AgeVerification #Privacy #ChildSafety #Cybersecurity #AppSecurity #TechPolicy

Missouri is now the 25th U.S. state to enforce age-verification rules for sites hosting content harmful to minors.
https://www.technadu.com/missouri-becomes-25th-us-state-to-enact-age-verification-law/615233/

Adults must verify age using digital IDs, government IDs, or transactional data. Privacy concerns are rising, and VPN searches in Missouri have surged more than fourfold. Fines for violations can reach $10,000.

#CyberSecurity #Privacy #AgeVerification #DigitalSafety #TechPolicy #VPN

ABC: "How would your feed look if you got to control what you saw on social media?"

Algorithm opt out is important but we need more than this. Interoperability and custom user agents need to follow. Drop age/ID verification altogether.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-08/chanel-contos-teach-us-consent-fix-our-feed/106107546

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #ageverification #fixourfeeds #privacy

Sometimes even politicians agree that it is necessary for social media to carry videos of people literally and really being blown to pieces…

You have to wonder how the Online Safety Act is going to accommodate such thinking?

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1997700954934628417?s=20

#ageVerification #censorship #onlineSafety #onlineSafetyAct #stateSanctionedMurder #surveillance

Lord Carlile believes that “[websites can] lose their right to appear on any screen in the United Kingdom” – rather than “citizens will suffer censorship by the British state”

The noble lord might learn “that’s not how it works”:

“On the Radio 4 “Today” programme this morning, ofcom admitted that none of the three fines levied so far has been paid. Is it not right that Ofcom should be encouraged to take much stronger enforcement action against those who do not pay by making it clear that within a very short time, they will lose their right to appear on any screen in the United Kingdom unless their enforcement is fit for purpose?”

#ageVerification #censorship #onlineSafety #onlineSafetyAct #surveillance #vpns

Baroness Floella Benjamin of BBC PlaySchool fame proposes Australia-like YouTube age-ban impacting Sesame Street, Ms Rachel, Cosmic Kids, Danny Go! …

Perhaps the noble Baroness could be reminded that Ms Rachel & DannyGo are primarily on YouTube, not BBC1 as she once was; and that actual YT-provided affordances for kids are essential for modern parenting? Quote:

“Also, by relocating to countries with few or no internet safety Laws, children can be exposed to more extreme, illegal or unmoderated content. Perhaps children under 16 should be banned from social media altogether.”

Full quote in context:

To ask His Majesty’s Government what measures have been put in place to prevent children using virtual private networks to avoid age verification to access harmful material online.

…

I thank the Minister for that Answer. However, Childnet has discovered an increase in the use of VPNs by children in the last three months. While younger children are deterred by age-verification checks, teenagers actively seek out and share methods to circumvent them. Many minors are downloading free VPN applications that often monetise user data and expose devices to viruses. Also, by relocating to countries with few or no internet safety Laws, children can be exposed to more extreme, illegal or unmoderated content. Perhaps children under 16 should be banned from social media altogether. What action will the Government take to address the increasing number of children using VPNs? Will they instruct ofcom to follow the lead of the Australian e-safety commissioner and require that digital services check VPN traffic for technical and behavioural red flags that suggest a user in the UK may be a child? Let us act sooner rather than later.

This may be coming from a place of intense concern, but it’s deeply detached from modern reality of parenting and media.

Some of the Excellent Kids’ Content on YouTube

• https://www.youtube.com/@CosmicKidsYoga (yay, Britain!)
• https://www.youtube.com/@DannyGo
• https://www.youtube.com/@msrachel
• https://www.youtube.com/@SesameStreet
• https://www.youtube.com/@SuperSimpleSongs
• https://www.youtube.com/@HeyBear
• https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRober

Elsewhere: A Sunny Day is Coming to YouTube: YouTube’s Expanded Partnership with Sesame Street

#ageVerification #dannyGo #msRachel #onlineSafety #onlineSafetyAct

uBlock Origin -> My filters:

*###agego-overlay-container

*##*:remove-class(agego-blur-content)

__

"[...]collects both the website and the exact URL of the content users seek to watch, and fails to inform users that their webcam stream will be shared with Amazon Web Services if they opt for the “Selfie” verification method."

Technical Report: AgeGo Verification
https://aiforensics.org/uploads/AIF_report_AgeGO_porn_platforms.pdf

Age Verification Tool Leaks Data
https://archive.ph/VPKqy

#Privacy #AgeVerification #DigitalServicesAct

The Human Cost of Online #AgeVerification

Jan 15, 2026 12pm - 1pm PST - Online
Age Verification mandates are spreading fast, & they’re ushering in a new age of online #surveillance , #censorship , & exclusion for every1—not just young people…require websites & apps to collect sensitive data from every user, often through invasive tools like #ID checks, #biometric scans, or other dubious “estimation” methods, B4 granting them access to certain content/services
#privacy

https://www.eff.org/event/effecting-change-human-cost-online-age-verification