Australia became the first country in the world to ban social media for under-16s at the end of last year. Now the government is going further, expanding its restrictions to video games and pornography. 

The latest proposal extends beyond social media and into other areas of online content. Australia has now announced it will put in place age-verification requirements for explicit video games and ‘adult’ websites. 

The new age-verification is likely to have a significant cultural impact. Games such as Grand Theft Auto (currently rated M/ 17+) which have been widely popular across multiple generations since the late 1990s, are just one of the household names that could be affected by change in legislation – by putting limits on the audience they can market to. 

Restrictions could have knock on effects across the gaming and digital content industries, potentially reducing sales, engagement and how platforms can sell and distribute their products. 

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said “We don’t allow children to walk into bars or bottle shops, adult stores or casinos, but when it comes to online spaces where they are spending a lot of their time, there are no such safeguards,” 

The tightening of legislation will bring the same “common sense protections we all grew up with to the online world of today”.

Under the new legislation, any providers of age-inappropriate content, including social media, gaming sites, the app store or AI chatbots, would have to put measures in place to restrict access for young people.

However, the debate is not limited to Australia. 

This change to online content mirrors the current consultation happening in the UK which the UK government says will inform policy on online use for young people.

The consultation is looking at bans and age restrictions, not only across social media but for gaming sites and AI tools as well. 

These developments come in light of a range of concerns that exposure to certain online material may contribute to to poor mental health or suicides in young people. 

However, despite the intention to protect young people, critics argue that age-verification could do the opposite. 

Inadequate technical infrastructure and security measures in place on these sites could result in data leaks and privacy violations for users. 

In one recent case involving a third-party service provider used by Discord, reports suggested that sensitive data including government ID information, IP addresses and banking information, was being retained for longer than necessary following age-verification tests.

Hundreds of thousands of photo IDs of Discord users may have been exposed in a third-party breach, sparking backlash and justifying privacy concerns regarding age verification techniques. 

User outrage over this case has may have contributed to Discord postponing age-verification implementation until later this year, in an attempt to regain user trust. 

While privacy and infrastructure concerns have led to calls for a reconsideration of age-verification, the developments in Australia could create a real-world test case for the UK and policy makers globally. 

For the UK, watching how these developments unfold will give valuable insight into the potential benefits and pitfalls of regulatory changes. 

Where are we now?

The UK has already started implementing age verification measures as part of the Online Safety Act. In July 2025, the UK implemented a policy which required ID to be submitted and verified against facial age estimation tests to access pornography sites. Further regulation is set to protect young people against seeing self-harm, violence, disordered eating and other dangerous content.

However, the UK is already seeing a surge in VPN downloads which allow users to side-step age-verification, indicating there will be a number of workarounds which will reduce the effectiveness of any government efforts. 

Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom  has outlined several approved methods for age-verification. These include assessing banking information, photo identification, photo analysis using AI to estimate age, mobile network operator age checks, credit card checks, digital identity services, and email-based age estimation as appropriate methods for age-verification.

Recommended reading

• ICO Issues Guidance on Facial Recognition Technology
• Discord Warns 70,000 Users May Have Had ID Images Accessed
• Discord to Make Age Verification Mandatory In “Teen-by-default” Move

Given the personal and sensitive nature of these checks, consumers may be reluctant to share these, and privacy experts warn about potential data breaches and cyber-attacks.

While Australia continues to add further restrictions to its under-16s ban, the UK appears to be seeking public opinion before going ahead with similar policies.

Regulators are at a pivotal point as they weigh up the impact of age-verification implementations with the repercussions of not acting quickly enough.

It remains to be seen how Australia will navigate its rapid changes to social media policy, and what lessons the UK will learn from observing.