German media: Australia's and Indonesia's youth social media bans have limited effectiveness

Why Is AI Age Verification Technology So Hard to Prevent Teenagers from Accessing Social Media?

Reference News Network, April 4 According to a report published on the website of the German Handelsblatt on April 1, Australia is seen by countries worldwide as a model when it comes to restricting children and teenagers from using social media. However, nearly four months after a social media ban for minors under 16 was implemented, the ban likely has not achieved the intended results.

The report says that for supporters of this ban—which is designed to better protect young people—the data released by authorities is likely disappointing: a survey shows that among children and teenagers under 16 who have been active on social media, even long after the ban took effect, 70% are still able to access these platforms.

The authors of the survey report concluded that although the number of social media accounts held by minors under 16 has declined, “a considerable portion of children still keep accounts on platforms with age restrictions.” The department in charge of cybersecurity has blamed platform operators, arguing that their age verification technology—for example, estimating age based on facial features—is not effective enough.

The government has announced it will investigate Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube for alleged violations. If it is found that platform operators have failed to fulfill their obligations, they will face fines equivalent to nearly 30 million euros.

In Indonesia, the government has also criticized several major platform operators. The country’s social media ban for minors under 16, modeled on Australia’s, took effect last weekend.

But progress has been far from smooth: Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, Mertya Hafidz, accused Facebook parent company Meta and Google, the parent company of YouTube, of failing to enforce the ban as required. It is reported that these companies were summoned on March 30 to undergo “review.”

However, placing the blame solely on technology companies overlooks the problems created by policymakers in these two countries themselves. Both Australia and Indonesia have implemented age restrictions, but neither has developed a clear and effective governance plan.

Authorities have left the specific details to be handled by enterprises themselves. Platform operators can now argue that AI-based age verification based on selfies, or age estimation based on usage behavior, is inherently inaccurate—then use that as a way to deflect responsibility.

Countries hoping to emulate the social media bans implemented by the two countries should take a wiser approach. Simply having the goal of keeping teenagers away from social media is not enough; the implementation plan must be clear and explicit from the very beginning. (Compiled/ Jiao Yu)