Australia is on the verge of implementing one of the strictest digital safety laws globally, aiming to restrict children under 16 from accessing social media platforms. The goal is to shield younger users from online dangers, but not everyone is convinced of its effectiveness.
Google, one of the leading tech giants, has voiced significant concerns about the plan. Unlike traditional age verification methods, the proposed Australian model relies on AI-based behavior analysis to estimate users’ ages—without requiring ID or documentation.
A senior policy executive at YouTube Australia emphasized the challenges of such a system, warning that the approach might be technically unworkable and could fail to deliver the intended safety outcomes for minors.
Many tech experts echo this skepticism, pointing out that behavioral age estimation can raise privacy concerns, lead to inaccurate results, and may be bypassed by tech-savvy users. The system could even result in mistakenly locking out users or misidentifying their age.
While the goal of protecting children online is widely supported, Google and other tech players urge caution, arguing that the current proposal may be impractical and open to significant flaws unless balanced carefully with user rights and technological limits.
