‘Creeping Authoritarianism’: Motion Against Search Engine Age Checks Passes Senate

The successful motion brought left, right, and centrist politicians together in a unified vote.

A teen holds a smartphone and prepares to do a search on Google, where trending search terms are showing, in Sarasota, Fla., on Aug. 18, 2023. Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times

An urgent motion to prevent search engine users from being subject to age verification has passed Australia’s Senate with sweeping support from across the political spectrum.

Put forth by United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet, the motion was supported by the right-wing One Nation party, the centre-right Coalition, and the far-left Greens.

Senators David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe, and Fatima Payman—who tend towards the left-wing spectrum—also backed Babet’s motion.

The motion was not supported by Labor senators.

A proposal to demand age verification for signed-in users of search engines was proposed by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner in early July as the government continues to crack down on access to online content for under-16s.

The Epoch Times understands several methods could be used to verify age, including ID checks, face scanning, credit card checks, vouching from a parent, AI guesswork or the results of a third party that has already verified the age of the internet user.

The proposal builds on legislation to ban under-16s from social media which passed parliament in November 2024.

An eSafety spokesperson told The Epoch Times earlier in July that the move to restrict children’s access to search engines was a protective measure to limit exposure to harmful content.

But in his speech in the Senate, Babet said it would come at the cost of every Australian’s right to privacy.

A Child doing his schoolwork at his family home in Tarpoly Creek, Australia, on April 5, 2020. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

“Let me say from the outset that protecting children online is a moral imperative,” he said.

“Measures like safe-search filters for minors, better parental controls and the restriction of harmful content are of course welcome, but let’s not kid ourselves—this is not about protecting children, it is about building a surveillance infrastructure under the cover of safety.”

Babet expressed concern about age assurance measures and how they could be conducted.

“That’s biometric scanning. That’s data mining. We’re rapidly marching towards a society where privacy online is not just frowned upon but perhaps going to become illegal. That’s what’s going on,” he said.

“Imagine this: your face, your ID and your personal browsing history all linked, logged and stored in the name of keeping kids safe.

“But I ask you this: who is keeping citizens safe from this creeping authoritarianism disguised as policy?”

Babet said while the existing plan would apply only to logged-in users, it was a “slippery slope.”

“I cannot stress enough that we are not, nor do we want to become, China or North Korea. We’re Australians,” he said.

The success of the motion does not mean it will be passed into law, but the government could act on the move if it represents significant pressure from senators.

The eSafety Commissioner’s office was contacted for comment.