2025-09-01
There are serious concerns about the viability of the Government's proposed social media age ban following the release of findings from the age assurance trial report. The report has identified significant risks including mass surveillance, biometric data collection, increased Big Tech control and systematic bias against vulnerable groups that may very well outweigh any potential benefits of the policy.
These findings should have the Government reconsidering the viability and appropriateness of age verification technology as a tool for protecting young people online, with the prospect the current approach could cause more harm than good to the very children it aims to protect with the December deadline for implementation looming.
Lines attributable to Senator Shoebridge, Greens Digital Rights Spokesperson:
"The age assurance trial report makes the case against a social media age ban. The risks it identifies including mass surveillance, biometric data collection, Big Tech control, and systematic bias against girls and People of Colour, which clearly outweigh any potential benefits.
"The government's report on age assurance tech admits 'implementation depends on the willingness of a small number of dominant tech companies' meaning we'd be handing even more power to Big Tech to decide who gets online access. Labor surely understands this is bad!
"The age assurance trial findings accidentally prove the social media age ban is unworkable and it is time to rethink this flawed approach.
"The Australian newspaper has come out hard today against our inquiry into age verification and the social media age ban and got it completely backwards.
“The inquiry isn't about helping Big Tech, it's exposing how Labor's rushed age ban will hand power to the very companies that are exploiting kids.
"The Greens don't agree the choice is between Big Tech or Murdoch controlling our public spaces and debate, it is the community who should have both control and rights including privacy.
“The real question is why Labor and the Murdoch media are so afraid of parliamentary oversight of this ban?" Senator Shoebridge said.
Lines attributable to Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Media and Communications spokesperson:
“The age assurance trial report shows the huge amount of resources that this government is putting into trying to find a way to make it technically feasible to lock young people out of social media.
“The time, money and resources that are being put into this would be much better spent on holding the big tech platforms to account to make their spaces safer for people of all ages.
“We shouldn’t be spending the next few years playing whack-a-mole and trying to plug all the technical holes in this, we should be investing in the guard rails that makes online spaces safer for everyone.
“The inquiry that I will chair into the age verification processes will continue the conversation with experts about how we hold big tech accountable for protecting all of their users.