If New Zealand and Australia, both 5-eye partners, were not used as the testing ground during the COVID-19 and vaccination exploits, this current move may not have gained the same level of scrutiny. However, with a documented history of Australia pushing the limits against freedom and liberty, this latest development is notable.
Effective today, all Australian social media users will need to prove their age on websites and apps including Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. Users under the age of 16 are banned from accessing the sites/apps.
“But it’s only Australia,” say most. Think again. In the era of modern internet travel and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), how is the compliance aspect going to be determined? That’s the problem the Australian control agents are now trying to address.
An intellectually discerning person would note the compliance angle should have been worked out long before the regulatory and compliance switches were flipped and the rushed-into-place law was activated. The Internet Police Czar charged with enforcing the ban is an American.
As Politico notes, “Australia’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, an American tasked with policing the world’s first social media account ban for teenagers, acknowledges Australia’s legislation is the “most novel, complex piece of legislation” she has ever seen. … She told a conference in Sydney this month she expects others to follow Australia’s lead. “I’ve always referred to this as the first domino,” she says.
The Australian legislation passed through their parliament less than a year ago, with UniParty and public support. “It was really fast,” Rebecca Razavi, a former Australian diplomat said. But she added: “Some issues, such as how it works in practice, with age verification and data privacy are only being addressed now.”
Given the issue of global VPNs, the compliance issues around age verification will have to accompany issues around geographic identification for various social media platforms.
That issue expands the internet identity verification to areas beyond the geographical boundaries of Australia.
(VIA CNN) – […] To comply with Australia’s law, platforms are verifying users’ ages with official documents or by using AI systems that estimate a user’s age by scanning their face on camera. Last year, Australia conducted a government-funded study testing age verification methods, which convinced officials that it could be done without compromising privacy.
Such AI age estimation tools have raised accuracy concerns when deployed elsewhere. In the UK, teens reportedly used the faces of video game characters to bypass age gates when some platforms tried to verify their ages.
Critics have also said these systems raise privacy issues for all users who will have to provide biometric data or other sensitive information, even if they’re above 16.
For example, some users protested when YouTube said this year that it would start using AI to detect users’ ages in the United States in a bid to protect children. They didn’t like the idea of having to hand over an ID or face scan if they were wrongly identified as a teen.
In Australia, platforms will be required to delete users’ data after verifying their ages.
Could a teen social media ban happen in the US? While none go as far as Australia’s ban, a growing number of US states have passed restrictions on teens’ access to social media or other internet services. (read more)
A digital ID.
When they say it’s for the children, it’s never for the children.
Of course to prove that you are over 16 you will have to tell us exactly who you are.
Universal ID (and authentication) test drive.
And what if one identifies as a 60 yr-old woman?
Maybe, they identify as Spiderman.
Maybe, they are “furries.”
Maybe, they identify as Donald Trump, and have a latex (Halloween mask to prove it!
Maybe, they are Anime’ fans.
Maybe, they also spend their spare time on the football field, dressed as a mascot.
I hope these kids create havoc with these tyrants.
That would be a riot. I am certain they will.
It will be expanded to adults, no doubt about it. This is exactly how it started with the Anti-Money-Laundering back in 1990s: it’s the War on Drugs they said; then the War on Terror. We started with large amounts of cash, but in the broader AML system, “suspicious activity” can be flagged even for amounts well below $10k threshold.
They are incrementalists, gradually tightening the net over time. It’s for the children, don’t you know?
They may be keeping most kids off those social media platforms, but in the process they are learning who everyone else is who are using them. It doesn’t matter how you might have it set up to be anonymous on one of those sites, they are learning who you are regardless.
And let me–admittedly, a non-parent–say it out loud: if parents had forbidden social media use by their children–or had just allowed them a flip phone for phone calling or basic texting–this wouldn’t have become an issue.
I know, I know: the horse has long left the barn on both issues, but stop and think about it—we’ve been giving them our children for years now: the public school system, public libraries/story hour, psychologists and doctors who tell them they are trans, social media cesspools, over-involvement in extra-curricular activities….
I agree with you. Kids should not be on social media and a lot of the other media found on the internet. But that is the parents’ job, not the government’s job.
Some parents will handle it well, others will give in. Just like any situation with children. Parents question whether they are being too strict or too lenient. Nobody’s perfect. Kids will find a way around restrictions. But the government should not be involved.
And until this world turns back to God, repents and acknowledges Jesus Christ as our Savior, it’s not going to get any better.
Define social media.
I like the law. Social media is toxic for children.
You shouldn’t like the law, because it means you have to prove that you are not a child if you want to access social media.
You’re making me like it more and more, Moray! 😀 Let’s abandon the Internet as a social substitute, and return to real lives and communities!
If you believe this law is about protecting children, you must also believe that The Affordable Care Act was about affordability and the North American Free Trade Act had anything to do with free trade.
So true! Also, if you aren’t a fan of the Patriot Act you aren’t a patriot!
And two weeks to flatten the curve!
Government is not a replacement for parents.
No, government steps in to clean up the messes parents failed (sometimes not their fault) to prevent.
Usually gov’t makes a bigger muck of it, or leverages the problems for nefarious purposes.
What can be done?
Realize that with freedom comes responsibility and that humans aren’t perfect and quit trying to mold the world into your vision of how things should be.
Well isnt that special.
Did you actually read what SD said, and has said many times? Did you think this through?
How easily some people want Big Brother to control us from cradle to grave.
SMH. Wowsers….
While I think kids younger than 16 are harmed by using social media, I don’t think access to them ought to be controlled by any government. Giving the government that kind of power just introduces another avenue for corruption and control of the people. What would make more sense is to make it easier for parents to somehow block access to whatever sites they do not want their children accessing. Just as an example, I always felt like all XXX sites should reside under an xxx domain. Then it would be easy to block all porn in the xxx domain. Maybe a soc domain for all social media. I know, it’s probably too late for any of this.
It’s really quite easy. You don’t block the sites you don’t want kids to go to – you only allow the sites you wish to let them use. The list is vastly smaller and easier to maintain and can be done via configuration of your router.
Most lists for kids would be something like:
1) Your school website
2) Encyclopedia Britannica
3) Your kids favorite website that you have thoroughly vetted
4) Hillsdale College website
5) Your church website
“While I think kids younger than 16 are harmed by using social media, I don’t think access to them ought to be controlled by any government. “
Would you say the same about alcohol, driving cars, going to school?
Identifying children by online biometrics is a horrible idea.
However if the government took actions against sites that openly PROMOTE and FACILITATE sexual exploitation of children it would be helpful.
For example, sites like Minecraft or Roblox that are marketed to children should not allow sexual content or discussions among participants. However many sites allow private chats and rampant sexual content.
Much like they did not allow advertising cigarettes to children or sexual content on the radios or children’s TV shows, there needs to be similar efforts to internet content.
Individual children do not need to be identified, but rather the sites for children need to be free of sexual content. The technology exists to identify it, but there is no will to do it.
Australia, look to Nepal for an example. …if you have the fortitude.(balls) You willingly gave up your guns. Maybe social media is more valuable.
Machine Guns and Cannon have never been Legal in Australia. We unwillingly gave up Semi-Autos. ( Professional Shooters can still get them for Pest destruction . ) …… Apart from sentimental reasons , ( Grandads Browning Semi-Auto 12 G. Shotgun etc. ) , this was no great loss. ……. The semi- Autos main attributes are wasted Ammo and turning an accurate Shooter into some-one who can not hit the wall of a Barn from inside the Barn. …… Most Australians still possess Fire-Arms. ……. I have nine. My sons each have the usual three , Centre fire of choice , .22 Rimfire , and 12 g. Shotgun. I have lost count of my grandsons Fire-arms , they each have more than me. …….. There are noticeably more Fire-Arms than Citizens in Australia. …… As a retired Fire-Arms and Explosives Dealer and Licensed Fire-Arms Identifier I am an expert on these facts.
“Most Australians still possess Fire-Arms”
You would want to rewrite that statement.
“The semi- Autos main attributes are wasted Ammo and turning an accurate Shooter into some-one who can not hit the wall of a Barn from inside the Barn”
Yes, because as everyone knows that people with semi automatics cant shoot fer sh!t, right?
You should show up at an IPSIC event and tell them that.
Aussies say the darndest things…
You’ve obviously never been involved with the military…and the only thing you are an expert at is YOUR opinion.
There are plenty of guns in Australia.
Yep. Canada too, but a lot of people seem to think we have been disarmed.
We have not been. They only made new laws pertaining to buying new ones, semi’s or hand guns. And stupid laws about storage and use.
No one listens to the leftists anyways. Canada is armed to the teeth. Especially rural people and bush people.
Only a few hundred idiots gave their guns back. Out East.
No one else is playing the game. The Librats are losing this conversation, big time…
Still plenty of guns owned in Australia. The right to bear arms doesn’t seem to have helped people in the US. All the crime & corruption over the past few yrs & the 2A couldn’t prevent it.
Citizens having the right to keep & bear arms was supposed to be a protection against govt oppression, yet ya all just let it happen.
But hey, at least you still got your guns.
Most Australians support this legislation, and most parents also said they will help their children get around the ban sometimes according to one poll. My understanding is that the ban is on under 16s having a social media account, not accessing the internet per se. I’m Australian, but don’t have any social media accounts so I don’t know how it will affect me.
We will see how the kids get around this ban, which will happen.
Unfortunately the Australian government has a terrible track record of causing unintended consequences from its virtue signalling policy idiocy.
For example, Australia indexes its taxes on tobacco every year causing it to have the highest priced cigarettes in the world. A pack of 20 costs at least $50 local or about $35USD. The result is that Australia has very low smoking rates, but tobacco tax take has collapsed as organised crime has taken over tobacco retail across Australia.
We have massive imports of cheap Chinese cigarettes sold illegally, without tax, to all sorts of Australians. Legal retailers of tobacco routinely have their shops firebombed and car rammed by organised crime, often featuring middle eastern crime gangs. Importing illegal cigarettes is now up there with drug trafficking. But the government and Uniparty won’t back down.
Our alcohol is also taxed in the same way. Australia will soon have the most expensive alcohol in the world, although government has made some concessions on taxing alcohol. The result is that young people can’t afford a night out at the pub and they have pre going out drinks before they go out.
Pre drinks usually involve buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka which is then consumed rapidly in shots so that by the time the kids get out the alcohol hits them causing problems with violence.
Not unsurprisingly illegal drugs, which are cheaper than alcohol, are growing in popularity in Australia. It’s like Australia learned nothing from the USA’s experience with alcohol prohibition in the 1920s-1930s.
It’s worth remembering that Australia’s worst cultural traits stem not from it being founded as a prison colony full of convicts, but rather from it being founded as a prison colony run by prison guards.
The prison model appears to be a primary driver in their social model and it’s obvious a driver their leaders prefer.
200 years ago.
An Aussie I spoke to made a similar reference… Australia wasn’t just a nation of convicts, it was also a nation of jailers.
And the two Australians I knew for many years are too afraid of talking (emailing) to me any longer.
Parents with kids and scared to death of my own views.
Most Australians support this legislation
That does not convey the information you think it does…
“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
1 John 5:19
John might easily have been talking about this so-called social ban on teenagers, which for anyone with a grain of intelligence is still another attempt by the globalists to enslave the rest of us.
The clear message I get is nobody should have children.
This became standard when bike helmets started being sold. How did I survive?
No helmet laws, no seat belt laws, no cell phones, no Internet, etc. but 16 year olds running around on gas powered mopeds with no driver’s license required. We survived just fine.
Yea…this will be funny…it will be easy to circumvent in different ways. Tech savvy teens are gonna have a blast.
For example, they’re gonna have to monitor all connection attempts out of those countries; or threaten internationally based social media service providers (corporations) as the EU has.
and the reason for this? how does the government benefit from this? they need control? what are they afraid of?
Full totalitarian information control of the youth, only government-permitted brainwashing is allowed.
It isn’t just the youth, it’s the adults as well…
Indeed, Harrison. On target.
Gee, it’s almost like “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
I was on YouTube last week and they wanted me to scan my liscense to prove my age!!
They said I couldn’t access site because of disturbing content…I wasn’t trying to access anything disturbing.
I didn’t show my liscence. I just moved on.
Im an American. I am here in America.
Ever been through id.me? It is unconstitutional document rape. The portal for unemployment support, veterans’ services, etc.
Let me tell you about an experience I had on Monday this week. I had to get an ID reset for my company with SSA, it’s through BSO (business services). As I started the process I kept thinking it was wrong because it was asking for my personal SS number. I finally called SSA to get help. It wasn’t wrong. I had to use my own personal info including using a front and back picture of my government drivers license, then when that was accepted I had to take a picture of my face with my phone camera and submit that. I asked the SSA guy why do I need to use my personal info to get an ID for my company’s EIN? It’s to confirm who YOU are?
Was very invasive. I wasn’t happy doing it but had no choice to get this ID set up for a new software system we converted to this year before year end.
My response to this social media ID verification is nope, no thank you. I will just remove myself from X which is the last social media I use. I got off all other social media sites especially Fakebook.
Aries – it is due to the new “ID.ME” fedgov requirements for existing accounts and when creating new accounts.
I had to do the same last year – and was equally unhappy about it – for some of the work I do as a tax professional, in order to use a federal database I sometimes must access.
I had existing access to this database for years, as well as to the SSA for my own personal account, but now must use the new ID.ME login for both.
As far as this new Australian law, I am completely against it. It is a slippery slope, foot in the door, etc., as well as infringement on a domain best left to parents and families to manage. Are there problems and concerns with social media usage and its influence? Of course. But in my opinion, this is not the way.
Yep, completely Orwellian.
I can picture it all now…
God, “Why did you take the mark of the beast Aries?”
Aries, “I needed to get a number to buy some food.”
God, “I’m sorry Aries, but your the weakest link. Goodbye.”
Easy for you to say. You don’t have 5,000 W2s and stupid 1095s to be submitted to SSA and the IRS.
It is indeed easy for me – but not for the reason you give…but because there is nothing in this world worth anywhere near the value of things not of this world.
In regards to the excuse you gave – the entire lot would go to them the old fashion way, either on a thumb drive or paper.
Slight correction; see bold font:
“The Internet Police Czar charged with enforcing the ban is an American Quisling to the core.“
The woman is a power mad sociopath:
1) Here she accuses Trump of being “superspreader of mis and dis-information”, while at the same time censoring factual tweets about ‘trans’ men/women, and claiming men can breast feed, etc:
Julie Inman Grant ‘not the best person’ to be e-Safety Commissioner | Gold Coast Bulletin
2) This Australian citizen says this about Julie Inman Grant (the links to his previous posts about her are working as I type this):
My Previous Post on Julie Inman Grant – BAD MATHEMATICS
A (friendly)* lawyer advised me that I should delete my previous post on Censorship Commissar, Julie Inman Grant. I question the concerns, but he is a lawyer and I am not, so I have deleted the post. I believe it is safe to say I think Inman Grant is extraordinarily dangerous, and I am appalled by her heavy-handed and self-righteous censorship. My previous posts on Inman Grant are here, here and here
3) From the same Australian citizen:
Julie Inman Grant: Censor and Asshole – BAD MATHEMATICS
Six months ago, I wrote about Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, and her fight with Musk-Twitter-X. Now, she’s apparently at it again.
I’m not going to work to figure out the details of this latest round of the fight. There is no need. In June I worked enough to figure out what Inman Grant was on about, and I know her all too well. She is an appalling woman, an authoritarian and self-righteous censor in an appalling office, backed by appalling legislation and cheered on by appallingly ignorant stenographer-journalists who should damn well know better.
For those who care to read, Inman Grant’s latest sermonising can be found here, here, here and here. But I’ll bet the house that there is no point. Just read what I wrote in June; she won’t have changed. One doesn’t have to like or respect Musk to realise that Inman Grant and her fellow goons are a much greater threat than the threats from which she is supposedly protecting us.
She is playing with fire,with this comment,
“I’ve always referred to this as the first domino,” she says.”
I was astounded by Australia’s hypocrisy during Covid in that their mainstream media spent a great deal of time railing against other nation’s tyranny while implementing the second greatest Covid lockdown over their own people, second only to China. A complete disconnect.
Why now? It’s clear the Aussie govt has lost control of the message and the only way to regain it is to curtail the ability of citizens to get the unapproved message.
Its A LEFTY LABOR GOVERNMENT.
UK IS LABOUR.
EU has similar LABOUR TYPE lefty governments.
She used to work for Twitter then Musk fired her.
And here are Prince Snitch and the B*tch (aka the Whore and the Bore) chiming in–living the high life in the US in Monteshitshow aka Montecito:
Prince Harry and Meghan issue an extraordinary statement about Australia’s social media ban and fire a scathing blast at big tech: ‘It shouldn’t have come to this’
Prince Harry and Meghan praise Australiahttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15373037/Prince-Harry-Meghan-Albanese-social.html
As far as I know, many Australians are sheep. Like the US.
The only true reality about all this are Sundance’s last two sentences. Big Brother would be proud!
For what it’s worth- I’m in Australia, and just opened X and You Tube as normal. I don’t use social media as such, Facebook and so on.
If anything changes for a decidedly non teen Australian user, I will report.
OZ land is ocean locked, kinda like a prison. Dang, funny how history repeats… it’s a prison again.
And same laws are coming to US. 1st Jan in Texas adults need to verify their age if they want to use Apple or Google. Similar bills being discussed all over US this week.
They are all stuck on and island, without a firearm. What do you expect.
And same laws are coming to US. 1st Jan in Texas adults need to verify their age if they want to use Apple or Google. Similar bills being discusses all over US this week.
Your firearms can’t stop the dystopian nightmare that is ahead for all of us.
I wonder what Ric Bossi thinks about this new layer of internet “protection”. AustraliaOne.com. This leader of the Australia One Party, former Australian Army Special Forces Lieutenant and Business Consultant has been interviewed about the ongoing psyops and special forces fighting for worldwide freedom. See John Michael Chambers’ recent interview “Bosi Briefs” Unmasking The Script: From PsyOpsto Ai & The Venezuela Endgame December 8 2025
Link here: https://johnmichaelchambers.com/unmasking-the-script-from-psyops-to-ai-the-venezuela-endgame-bosi-briefs/
Lieutenant Colonel
Whoah, all of this needs to be gutted.
It’s yet another indication that Australian politicians are either controlled by China or in envy of China.
Just a few months ago China tightened up its already restrictive internet controls, to limit screen time for minors.
https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-officials-look-to-limit-social-media-and-screen-time-in-china-/8010657.html
The kids here in Australia are bragging of working around the bans. Changing their age in their accounts, having parents set up accounts. Starting new accounts using older age. Whatever it takes.
They tell us that the algorithms can ‘tell’ by the content you view, the grammar or lack of, and the type of comments the age of the participant.
The informed know it is part of the Global Agenda, and that Australia is always the testing ground for ‘new everythings’. Having 10 (aged 24-6) grandchildren, I fear for not only my short years left, but certainly theirs. I only hope they have no children. Is there no end to this madness.
“how is the compliance aspect going to be determined?”
In my opinion, the real question is, what will they do with those who defy their ban?
If you are 15 and evade their ban, what will their penalty be?
We have places in society where proof of age is required. It works both ways; kids don’t go to bars and adults don’t go to the school dance. I appreciate and share the concerns of privacy, but do we have an alternative other than unfettered access to the dark corners?
The US is also implementing the same laws. On 1st Jan 2026 in Texas, every adult will have to verify their age to use basic services such as Apple & Google. The law has already passed & there are currently several bills about to be discussed in many states across the US related to ‘age verification’.
Redacted discussed the implications of age verification laws with Maria Zee from Australia. I highly recommend people get informed as this is very serious. The link to the segment on Redacted is below.
I’m not bothered by this. We have laws or regulations to prevent children from dangerous activities ie driving and consent for sex, and products, ie alcohol and tobacco, because as a society we believe in protecting them from their immature mind and impulses is best for them. I believe immersing them in social media at a very young age is harmful to their development. Who among you advocating that it is only the parents responsibility to control their children solely, should argue that a 10 year old with crappy parents should engage in sex with adults, drive a car, consume alcohol or drugs without restriction or have a gun? Social media is chock full of predators, falsehoods, and exceedingly corrupt and violent content. If someone needs to confirm my age, I’ll tell them I’m 60, as I am.
This is obviously a means to a digital ID. It’s always started “for the children”.