The new initiative works by having users verify their age through a new app, set-up with a passport or ID card. The app is then used as the verification tool for sites and online services like social media platforms, rather than having to hand IDs and biometric data over to third-party organisations and tech giants.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the app “respects the highest privacy standards in the world”.
“Users will prove their age without revealing any other personal information. Put simply, it is completely anonymous: users cannot be tracked.”
This eliminates the risk of data retention from verification, which has been a concern raised in Australia with age verification needing to be done on every platform that falls under the age-restricted criteria.
While Australia was the first to introduce social media age restrictions with the social media ban when it was announced in late 2024, concerns over privacy and data handling have been a key critique of the ban, alongside other social and ethical qualms. That being said, the social media ban also broke new ground, allowing other nations to take note and make improvements.
Australia’s age-restrictions require age verification using uploaded IDs and biometric data through face scans provided to third-party platforms, meaning that data is shared repeatedly with third-party organisations and social media giants.
The EU’s new app is decentralised and only provides verification anonymously. Platforms are not required to know the identity or details of a user, just the tick of approval that a user is indeed of age. This is the standard that our own government needs to follow, particularly as eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant congratulated Von der Leyen on the new initiative and celebrated the "partnership" between the EU and Australia.
"As you indicate below, whilst we have all been committed to protecting our citizens from online harm & keeping tech companies accountable for their safety & well being, what we really needed was the equivalent of a giant circuit breaker to prevent social media accessing our children before they are cognitively & developmentally ready," she wrote on LinkedIn.
However, Inman-Grant announced a different approach, instead bolstering its enforcement on social media giants, confirming that the responsibility for verification and data management still lies with them.
"You may not be surprised to know that the most common reason children still had their social media accounts was that they had not yet been asked by the platform to verify their age.," she wrote.
"This is precisely why eSafety announced we are moving from compliance monitoring to a more active enforcement stance against five social media giants."
In contrast, the EU has taken Australia's ban and turned it into something even more effective and secure. That being said, Australia's influence is no secret, and has been celebrated by the European Commission President.
Last year, Von der Leyen praised Australia’s social-media and age-restriction laws, telling a United Nations event in September that Australia’s “bold” move “inspired” her.
"It is obvious this is plain common sense," she said.
"We all agree that young people should reach a certain age before they smoke, drink, or access adult content. The same can be said for social media."
In fact, as much as Australia’s social media laws can be critiqued, they have set off a wave around the world, with a number of European nations already committing to social media restrictions for minors even before the European Commission's new app.
Denmark promised last year to ban those under 15 from social media, unless they had approval from a parent or guardian. Italy has implemented similar legislation, requiring parental consent for anyone under 14, in line with social media restrictions which require a minimum age of 13.
Even before Australia’s comprehensive social media ban, France introduced legislation in 2023 requiring users under 15 to have parental consent and verified age for social media. However, none had been blanket and comprehensive like Australia’s in 2024.
French President Emmanuel Macron promised his government last year that if progress was not made at the EU level, all under-15s would be banned from social media all together, not unlike in Australia.
RMIT professor Lisa Given says that the world is watching Australia to see how they should proceed with banning minors from social media.
"Many, many countries in the world are really watching us closely to see if the social media restrictions that we're putting in place are going to be something they could replicate or adapt to their own context," she said.
She also celebrated the EU’s move to have age-verification done through a government app, rather than making it the responsibility of a wide range of tech companies.
"Having government oversight around the interventions that are going to be used to ensure that companies are complying with privacy legislation is really critical," she said.
"Many individuals, including parents, will be quite concerned about what technologies the companies are using for age assurance.
"Do these raise any risks around privacy? If information is being stored or shared about their children as part of the age assurance process, is that data going to be safe?"
The EU has stood on the shoulders of Australia's groundbreaking new stance on social media and adult content for children. Now, its time for Australia to in turn, learn from the best when it comes to data privacy and launch a social media ban that keeps data secure.
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