By Dr Joe Milton, the Australian Science Media Centre
Beginning next week, you'll have to verify your age to access R-rated video games and websites under Australia's Age-Restricted Material Codes.
Under the codes, search engines, social media platforms, 'adult' websites, app stores, gaming companies, and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots must take 'meaningful steps' to prevent children from being exposed to age-inappropriate content.
The aim is to stop Australian children seeking out or stumbling across inappropriate content, including violence, self-harm, and dangerous content such as suicide and disordered eating websites.
Experts contacted by the AusSMC were largely positive about the changes.
Griffith University's Dr David Tuffley told the AusSMC age verification for adult content is "an overdue step toward bringing our digital environment into line with those accepted protections that we've always given our children in the physical world".
"We've never allowed newsagents to sell p*rnography to twelve-year-olds. We don't allow cinemas to admit children into R-rated movies. So the logic for extending those same protections online is not radical, more like common sense," he said.
Associate Professor Megan Lim from the Burnet Institute agreed, saying the new verification requirments are needed because "current age verification software and filtering software appear to be fairly ineffective at stopping young people from accessing p*rnography online".
"These efforts may be much more effective," she said.
Swinburne University's Dr Belinda Barnet told the Centre the restrictions are "a good idea and not an overreach".
"We need to make these platforms take responsibility for what kids do (or don’t) see," she added.
However, the restrictions will certainly inconvenience adults, as Professor Tama Leaver from Curtin University pointed out.
"A lot of adult Australians legally watch online p*rnography," he said. "On Monday, a lot of that content will either be inaccessible or behind a barrier that requires users identify themselves."
That may lead more of us to turn to virtual private networks (VPNs), which connect you to the internet via foreign countries, he said, rather than completing an identity check.
"The stigma attached to pornography will likely mean many adult Australians will find workarounds."
We've already seen that happen here in response to the social media ban, said Dr Tuffley.
"Determined teenagers will find workarounds," he said. "There now needs to be rigorous, independent evaluation of whether the codes are producing measurable reductions in children's exposure to harmful material."
A major concern of age verification is the need to enter and store sensitive data, in a world where major data breaches are reported increasingly frequently.
Dr Rahat Masood from the University of New South Wales told the AusSMC these concerns are justified.
"Many of these age-verification systems require people to upload identity documents such as passports, driver’s licences, or facial images," he said. "This creates new privacy and security risks. We have already seen incidents where identity documents collected for verification were later exposed in data breaches."
Dr Masood said strong safeguards will be needed to make sure the data isn't stolen.
"When sensitive personal information is stored at large scale, it becomes a valuable target for attackers."
Contact: Dr Joe Milton
Phone: +61 8 7120 8666
Email: info@smc.org.au