Summary
Governments and attorneys general are pressuring AI and social platforms to better protect children after high-profile failures and lawsuits.
Age assurance and new laws — from Roblox’s planned age checks to Brazil’s ECA Digital and Australia’s trial — are central to these efforts.
Companies are changing policies and facing fines, but privacy, access trade-offs, and legal uncertainty for decentralized platforms and gaming features like loot boxes remain.
Highlights
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On August 31, the Australian government finally released its findings from its Age Assurance Technology Trial, run by the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) in advance of the country’s impending under-16 social media ban. To assess the feasibility of age assurance in a privacy and security-preserving manner, the $6.5 million trial tested 60 technologies from 48 different vendors. The report essentially finds that age assurance “can be done” in Australia without “substantial technological limitations,” echoing the common understanding of no “one-size-fits-all” solution.