Australia to enforce social media age limit of 16 from next week

Livestreaming service Twitch was added to the list of age-restricted platforms less than two weeks ago. The Australian eSafety Commissioner will send the 10 platforms notices on December 11 demanding information about the numbers of accounts removed. Monthly notices would follow for six months.

Reacting to the development, Google said on Wednesday that anyone in Australia under 16 would be signed out of its platform YouTube from December 10, and lose features accessible only to account holders such as playlists.

“The government recognizes that age assurance may require several days or weeks to complete fairly and accurately. But if eSafety identifies systemic breaches of the law, the platforms will face fines,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said.

Google would determine YouTube account holders’ ages based on personal data contained in associated Google accounts and other signals. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said suspected young children will be removed from those platforms from Thursday.

$33million
File applicable if social media platforms are found violating the age ban mandate

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