Another (deliberately) flawed implementation of control of 'what we think is right for you', buy the Nanny State of Australia:
New adult content rules will also apply to AI bots, app stores.
Warning: This story contains references to sexual content, self-harm, and disordered eating.
Australians will need to prove they are over the age of 18 when
accessing pornographic websites from 9 March 2026, under new industry
codes registered Tuesday by the eSafety Commissioner.
Services hosting online porn must provide “appropriate age assurance
measures” when the codes take effect in six months’ time, or face
potential civil penalties from the regulator in the millions of dollars.
Similar age assurance technologies will be used by platforms to prevent under-16s from accessing social media under the government’s forthcoming ban in December, and to check a user’s age when they are logged into a search engine from later that same month.
Stricter rules on accessing online pornography have been floated by
governments for several years, but age assurance technologies were not previously considered accurate enough by lawmakers and regulators.
Such technologies can include age verification systems, which
typically rely on government documents or ID; age estimation systems,
which use biometrics; and age inference systems, which use online
activity or account data to infer a person’s age.
The federal government commissioned a trial of such technologies in
2024, which found age assurance could be done effectively in Australia despite no solution being infallible and some systems raising privacy and data retention concerns.
The new industry codes required service providers to not use or share
Australians’ personal information in a way which would breach privacy
laws, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.
“In determining appropriate age assurance measures to take under any
code, services are also required to consider if those measures are
compliant with privacy laws and whether the impact on user privacy is
proportionate to the safety objectives,” she added.
Any company covered by the new codes “must also take appropriate
steps to test and monitor the effectiveness of its age assurance and
access control measures over time", according to the new rules.
Age checks to access online porn have already been implemented for
sites accessed in the United Kingdom, in some European Union nations,
and in many jurisdictions in the United States.
Canadian pornography giant Aylo — which runs major sites such as
Pornhub and YouPorn — introduced age assurance methods in the UK in July
to comply with new online safety laws in that country, including
“email-based age estimation, credit card age checks, mobile network
operator age checks and open banking, and, as of August 5, Google
Wallet”, according to the company.
However, some UK residents have used Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and facial recognition tricks to get around the new age checks.
eSafety goes after ‘lawful but awful’ material
The six new codes registered by Australia's eSafety Commissioner were
co-developed with industry organisations and aimed to protect children
from exposure to a range of “lawful but awful” content, including
pornography, self-harm, and high-impact violence, Inman Grant said.
Development of the codes began in July 2024 and involved several
industry groups: the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
(AMTA), the Communications Alliance, the Consumer Electronic Suppliers
Association, Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI), and the Interactive
Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA).
Inman Grant said her office would be responsible for enforcing the
codes “to protect children from accidental exposure to content they are
not cognitively ready to process and certainly cannot ‘unsee’”.
“We know this is already happening to kids from our own research,
with one in three young people telling us that their first encounter
with pornography was before the age of 13,” she said.
“And this exposure was ‘frequent, accidental, unavoidable and
unwelcome’, with many describing this exposure as being disturbing and
‘in your face’."
Age checks have already been implemented for pornographic
sites accessed in the UK, some EU countries, and many US states. Image:
Shutterstock
DIGI, which counts the likes of Google, Microsoft, Meta, Apple,
TikTok, and Twitch among its members, said the new codes were “a major
milestone in creating a safer online environment for all Australians”.
"The registration of the codes shows what can be achieved when
industry and government work together on safeguarding the community
against online harms,” said Dr Jennifer Duxbury, DIGI’s director of
policy, regulatory affairs, and research.
"It's vital the rules that apply to the online world keep pace with changes in the threat landscape.”
Australia's adult entertainment association Eros was contacted for comment.
AI chatbots, app stores told to protect kids
To prevent children from accessing adult content on other platforms,
the new codes would also apply to AI chatbots, app stores, hardware
manufacturers, social media services, and other designated internet
services, Inman Grant said.
“Under these new codes, app stores will have to make sure that apps
are appropriately rated and that there are appropriate age assurance
measures before permitting users to download or purchase apps rated as
18+,” she said.
The commissioner said she was concerned by “a recent proliferation”
of unregulated AI companion chatbots — some of which have allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors, or encouraged self-harm or disordered eating.
“As with other forms of online pornography, there is a danger that
excessive, sexualised engagement with AI companions could interfere with
children’s social and emotional development, setting up misguided or
harmful beliefs and patterns that are damaging to individuals or
relationships in real life,” Inman Grant said.
“We’ve also seen recent reports of where AI chatbots have allegedly
encouraged suicidal ideation and self-harm in conversations with kids
with tragic consequences.”
US company OpenAI recently pledged to make further improvements to its ChatGPT service following the death of a teenager who discussed much of his life with the popular AI chatbot.
Source: ia.acs.org.au