Snap to verify ages in Australia ahead of teen social media ban

Snap will begin verifying the ages of many users in Australia ahead of a new law banning under-16s from social media platforms starting December 10.

Snapchat users can confirm their age by linking an Australian bank account, using government ID, or submitting a selfie for facial age estimation, the company said.

Australia’s law is intended to protect children from online abuse and harmful content.

Snap said it disagrees with being classified as a social media platform by the Australian government, but will comply with the legislation.

The company advised underage users to download their data before the ban takes effect.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, will also start removing accounts belonging to users under 16 from December 4.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Australia’s age-ban enforcement creates grey zone for platforms

Australia’s law requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to block under-16 access, with enforcement details pending guidance from the eSafety Commissioner (Australia’s online safety regulator) 1.
Breaches can draw fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (AUD) 2. No method is prescribed, and platforms must avoid self-declared age or parental consent while choosing government ID checks, biometric estimation such as a selfie age guess, or behavioral inference (signals from app use) 2. Snap is adding checks despite disputing its social media label 2.
Meta uses computer vision to guess age from selfies and admits challenges with error margins, especially for adolescents 3. Research finds high false rejections for 13 to 15 year olds and accuracy gaps for darker skin tones 4.

Age verification vendors see integration across Australian digital services

An Australian government age assurance trial named 21 providers at Technology Readiness Level 8 or 9 out of 29 and found them viable 4. The group includes Australian Payments Plus (a national payments network operator), VerifyMy (identity checks provider), Yoti (digital ID firm) and iProov (biometric authentication company) 4.
Roblox and Discord added age checks to avoid inclusion in the ban 2, which signals uptake as firms preempt rules.
Providers using layered privacy by design such as DigiChek, ConnectID (an Australian identity network) and Yoti earned praise 4 1. Business-to-business (B2B) age assurance orchestration platforms route checks across vendors 4 1. These tools help First Nations communities (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) who may lack passports or driver licences 4 1.