A UK-based testing body has concluded that Australia could use a range of technologies to implement its planned social media ban for children under 16, but that every practical enforcement method carries trade-offs and risks.
The Age Check Certification Scheme, commissioned by the Australian federal government, published its final report on Sunday after assessing a variety of approaches that social media platforms might use to prevent under-16s from creating or maintaining accounts. The report found that methods such as formal ID verification, parental approval processes, and technologies that infer age from facial structure, gestures or behavioural signals are technically possible, but that no single approach would be universally reliable for all platforms and use cases.
Under the new Australian laws, which the government says are intended to limit the harmful impacts of social media on young people, platforms must take “reasonable steps” to prevent children from creating accounts and to deactivate existing ones. The measures, due to come into effect in December, have been widely publicised as a world-first and are being watched closely by international leaders and technology companies.
The report highlights a range of practical difficulties. Verification using government-issued identity documents can be accurate for some users but raises data-protection, storage and fraud concerns and may exclude children who do not hold such documents. Facial-analysis and behavioural inference systems can produce errors, have higher misclassification rates for some demographic groups, and risk embedding bias. Parental-approval systems can be circumvened if adults are acting with malintent or if parents lack the means or knowledge to verify reliably. The report also noted the potential for identity fraud, synthetic media and other circumvention tactics that could undermine technical checks.
Privacy and data-security implications were a recurrent theme. Many of the assessed methods require platforms to collect additional personal data or biometric information, which non-governmental experts and civil-liberties groups have warned could create new harms if data are retained, shared across borders or used for secondary purposes. The report said robust data-minimisation, retention limits and strong security controls would be essential but acknowledged that technological safeguards cannot remove all risks.
Cross-border and jurisdictional realities further complicate enforcement. Social media services are often based overseas and operate global systems; ensuring compliance for Australian users alone may require separate regional processes, raising technical complexity and cost. The report also warned that heavy-handed measures risk pushing younger users to alternative or encrypted services where oversight is limited.
Government officials have argued the ban addresses documented harms experienced by children on large platforms and have pointed to parental support for stronger protections. Experts who favour the policy nonetheless warned that effectiveness will depend on careful implementation, transparent oversight and ongoing evaluation. Technology firms have said they will need clear regulatory guidance and proportionate enforcement mechanisms to comply without unduly compromising user privacy.
The Age Check Certification Scheme’s analysis did not identify a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases, the report said. Instead it outlined a menu of options, each with different consequences for accuracy, privacy, equity and cost. It emphasized that a combination of measures, proportionate regulatory standards, independent auditing and safeguards for vulnerable groups would be required to mitigate harms associated with any chosen approach.
The report arrives as governments and regulators worldwide monitor Australia’s experiment for lessons. Some countries have already introduced age-related rules for online services, while others are considering similar controls. How platforms, regulators and civil-society stakeholders respond in the months before the December implementation date will be key to determining whether the law achieves its stated objectives without introducing unintended consequences.
Lawmakers and industry executives have said further discussions are expected on the practicalities of compliance, certification of age-checking mechanisms and the role of independent oversight. The Age Check Certification Scheme’s findings underscore that while technical means to enforce an age limit exist, trade-offs between accuracy, privacy and accessibility will define the policy’s real-world impact.