"There are real technical limitations to accurate and dependable age verification. The Australian government's own trial, published in 2025, found that available age estimation technology was only accurate to within 2-3 years on average. In practice, this means some young people under 16 may be able to bypass protections, potentially leaving them with reduced safeguards, while others over 16 may incorrectly lose access."
"Young people won't stop communicating when they lose access to regulated services. Over 75% of time spent on Snapchat in Australia is messaging with close friends and family. We're concerned that when young people are cut off from these communication tools, some may turn to alternative messaging services that are not being regulated - services that may be less well-known and offer fewer safety protections than Snapchat provides."
Australia implemented a ban restricting under-16s from social media access, drawing international regulatory attention. Local anecdotal reports from teenagers indicate little change in everyday usage. Platform data shows measurable enforcement: Snapchat reports locking or disabling over 415,000 Australian accounts tied to users who declared an age under 16 or were assessed as under 16 by detection tools. A 2025 government trial found age-estimation technology accurate only to within two to three years on average. That inaccuracy risks both under-16s bypassing protections and over-16s losing access, and may drive young people toward less-regulated messaging services with fewer safety safeguards.
Read at Social Media Today
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