Software-based age identification on social media platforms reveals significant flaws
A government-commissioned report has raised doubts about the technical feasibility of a planned social media ban for users under 16 years old in Australia. The report, which investigated various age verification methods, has identified several challenges that need to be addressed before the ban can be effectively enforced.
The report suggests that while selfie-based age recognition is a fast, reliable, and privacy-friendly method, many technologies for age verification are still concepts and have not been properly tested. Error rates were higher for women and indigenous population groups, potentially due to insufficient training data for AI. The recognition was relatively reliable for users over 19, but there was a gray area around the 16-year age limit.
Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells believes there are still many effective options for age verification, despite no one-size-fits-all solution. However, additional age verification through ID or parental confirmation for age groups with low recognition accuracy would significantly increase the effort required.
The report examined 60 recognition methods from 48 providers, ranging from age verification through document checks to facial and motion-based age estimation. Companies have expressed support for centralizing age verification and secure data exchange with apps, linking this to the deployment of a digital identity (E-ID) system set to be operational by the end of the year.
Legal challenges, such as determining responsibility if the system fails, protecting children's privacy, and preventing youth from bypassing controls through VPN software, are raised in the report. Companies like Meta and Alphabet will need to demonstrate serious efforts in age verification, or face multi-million dollar fines.
Justine Humphry, a media researcher at the University of Sydney, describes the report's findings as "concerning". The report does not provide specific details on the legal framework that would be put in place to address the identified challenges. The report also does not address the issue of videos or platforms other than social media in its scope.
Despite the challenges, the Australian government views the social media ban as an important step towards protecting children online. The report suggests that system-wide solutions for the social media ban are possible, but there is still a long way to go before they are fully operational. The planned systemwide solutions are discussed with an implementation outlook around 2026, suggesting they might be ready by the end of the year or shortly thereafter.
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