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Australia may target app stores, search engines in AI crackdown
Australia’s internet regulator eSafety said it may push search engines and app stores to block AI services that fail to verify users’ ages, after a Reuters review found more than half had not made public any steps to comply by a March 9 deadline.
From March 9, internet services in Australia must restrict Australians under 18 from receiving pornography, extreme violence, self-harm, and eating disorder content or face fines up to A$49.5 million (US$33 million).
A Reuters review of the 50 most popular text-based AI products found 9 had rolled out or announced plans for age-assurance systems, 11 had blanket content filters or planned to block all Australians, and 30 showed no apparent steps to comply.
A spokesperson said eSafety “will use the full range of our powers where there is non-compliance,” including action against gatekeeper services such as search engines and app stores.
Reuters found that three-quarters of companion chatbots had no functioning or planned filtering or age assurance.
🔗 Source: Reuters
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Australia’s AI rules are one part of a broader internet reset
- Rules that cover AI services come from legally enforceable industry codes under Australia’s Online Safety Act, rather than a standalone AI policy 1.
- March 9 is when six codes registered in September 2025 take effect, covering services that include AI chatbots 1.
- An earlier set of codes registered in June 2025 starts on December 27, 2025, and includes the code for search engines 1.
- Fines can reach A$49.5 million, which matches the maximum civil penalty available under the Online Safety Act framework for code breaches 1.
Big platforms already have tools regulators can use
- eSafety said it may push gatekeeper services such as search engines and app stores to block AI services that do not verify users’ ages.
- The platform examples below sit outside eSafety’s March 9 start date, so they do not confirm what will happen on that day.
- Apple blocks Australian users from downloading apps rated 18+ unless they confirm their age, ahead of a September 2026 deadline cited by Information Age 2, 3.
- This ties into a global rollout of an “age assurance” API (an application programming interface that helps apps check a user’s age) aimed at compliance with child safety laws in the US, Brazil, and Singapore 4.
- Common age-checking tools could help regulators get non-compliant AI services delisted, which shifts enforcement from many small developers to a handful of platforms.
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