Social media age limit: Trial on age verification software to begin, with 1000 schoolchildren taking part

More than 1000 Australian schoolchildren will be recruited to trial identity verification technology that will be used to enforce new social media age restrictions. SEE HOW IT WILL WORK

• Explained: Social media age limits

More than 1000 Australian schoolchildren will be recruited to trial identity verification technology that will be used to enforce new social media age restrictions.

Social media giants Meta and Snapchat are among the 51 tech companies who have signed on to be part of the $6.5m world-leading trial commissioned by the federal government.

The Age Assurance Technology Trial was sparked amid News Corp Australia’s Let Them Be Kids campaign, which called for children under 16 to be restricted from having social media accounts.

Lab testing on the 51 platforms has already commenced, with testing on students expected to begin before the Easter school holidays and continue after.

The technology being trialled includes age verification, estimation and inference applications from checking birth dates against official identity documents, to biometric screening and using email and phone history to determine the likelihood of a user being an adult or a child.

Social media giants Meta and Snapchat are among the 51 tech companies who have signed on to be part of the $6.5m world-leading trial commissioned by the federal government. (Photo illustration by Roni Bintang/Getty Images)

Brisbane-based Scout Insights has also been appointed to facilitate testing among a further nationally representative sample of more than 1000 Australian adults.

While the trial is funded by the Australian government, it is being delivered independently by a group of expert organisations.

The lead partners are the Age Check Certification Scheme, a British company that specialises in testing age assurance technologies, and KJR, an Australian software consultancy that will be carrying out the testing activities.

Trial spokesman Iain Corby said plans were being finalised to test methods in schools, with the aim to also make the trial an educational experience for the students involved.

He said schools were being targeted because of the level of diversity among their pupils.

“We’re interested in trying to figure out whether this technology can helpfully distinguish between a seven-year-old and a 14-year-old, and to do that, you need to work with children,” he said. “We also want to understand the Australian context, which includes the diversity of the population, and that’s not just the Indigenous population, we’re also considering the very high level of immigration.”

Mr Corby said he was surprised about the number of large tech companies, including Meta and Snap Inc, who were willing to participate in the trial.

“I think it’s amazing how many companies from around the world, most of them who have no base in Australia, have perceived this as being a very important opportunity to demonstrate what they can do with their technology,” he said.

“It’s quite a big deal they’re willing to take the risk of being externally assessed.”

Mr Corby said an interim report on the trial was due in April, with the final report to be delivered by the end of June.

“This report will be looked at globally because it’s the first time a government has actually investigated the technology, so I think it’s going to be a very, very significant part of the conversation,” he said.

Social media platforms operating in Australia are expected to begin enforcing age restrictions by the end of 2025.

Originally published as Social media age limit: Trial on age verification software to begin, with 1000 schoolchildren taking part