#136 Age check - how plans to verify ages of social media users are faring

This week we revisit the conversation around banning under 16s from social media, and the range of technologies being considered to verify the ages of would-be social media users.
We examine the preliminary findings of a government-commissioned trial of age assurance technologies, as well as some independent media reporting on technologies in the trial.
The preliminary results have received mixed reviews, with particular concerns over the accuracy of facial recognition-based age estimation.

Links:
Preliminary findings of age assurance trial https://ageassurance.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/News-Release-Preliminary-Findings-for-publication-20250620.pdf
Article about preliminary findings of age assurance trial (ABC News) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-20/age-assurance-trial-preliminary-report/105440288
Article highlighting issues with facial age estimation technologies (ABC News) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/teen-social-media-ban-technology-concerns/105430458
Article about expert resigning from assurance trial advisory board (Crikey) https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/06/23/expert-resigns-teen-social-media-ban-tech-trial-advisory-board/
TWIDT #79 The long and winding road to age verification https://elevenm.com.au/podcast/episode/the-long-and-winding-road-to-age-verification/
TWIDT #122 Big ban theory – Why Australia’s social media ban for kids is raising eyebrows https://elevenm.com.au/podcast/episode/122-big-ban-theory-why-australias-social-media-ban-for-kids-is-raising-eyebrows/

Credits:
Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au
Music by Bensound.com