Search engine giants Google and Microsoft’s Bing will soon be required to verify the ages of signed-in users, as the government continues to crack down on access to online content for children under 16.
For those not signing in, certain content, such as pornography, will be blurred.
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 rules around search engine use were brought in in late June, but did not attract the same degree of controversy as the government’s original legislation to ban youngsters from social media platforms.
The bill received bipartisan support and applies to global giants such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Instagram, with fines of up to $50 million on the table for allowing children to use these programs.
Companies were given a grace period to adjust to the changes, which coincide with a raft of new codes big tech companies must comply with.
A spokesperson for the eSafety office told The Epoch Times that concerns around the types of content children were viewing online had been the catalyst for tough regulations.
“eSafety has recently registered three of nine industry-drafted codes which require online services to take stronger action to limit children’s exposure to pornography and other high-impact content,” the spokesperson said.
“These codes were developed by a steering group of industry representative associations.
“These groups represented companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!”
The independent government authority asserts that search engines are a potential danger to children.
Data shows more than one in four children aged 10 to 15 have seen sexual images or videos online, while 19 percent had seen them in the past 12 months.
Almost one in 10 children of the same age group had also seen violent sexual images or videos, with 6 percent viewing them in the past 12 months.
“eSafety has sought additional safety commitments from industry on the remaining codes, including those dealing with app stores, device manufacturers and suppliers, social media services, and the broader categories of relevant electronic services and designated internet services,” the spokesperson said.
“If the eSafety commissioner is not satisfied that any of the submitted codes provide appropriate community safeguards, she may determine a standard.”
eSafety says it is also developing new regulatory guidance to support the implementation of the upcoming social media minimum age obligation, which will require certain platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 from having accounts on their websites.
This includes consideration of complementary good practice measures, in addition to guidelines on the taking of reasonable steps.
