Age Verification Laws
Starting from 10 December 2025, any website that serves Australian users and meets certain criteria will be legally required to verify the age of both new and existing users to ensure that no one under the age of 16 can access their services.

What kinds of websites are affected?
A website will be subject to the law if it meets any of the following conditions:

1. Its primary or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction between users
2. It allows users to connect with or interact with other users
3. It allows users to post content

According to the Australian Government, the stated purpose of these laws is to protect children from online harm.

Affected Services
In practice, this means that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube will be required to block access to users under 16 unless by implementing an age verification system.

However, the impact of these laws extends far beyond major social media platforms.

Any website with community interaction features — including forums, comment sections, or any form of user-generated content — could be subject to these rules. For example, YouTube, which has traditionally not been classified as a social media platform, has already been included. It is unclear what other services may be added in future, as the government has left broad discretion in how the law is applied.

As written, the conditions are so vague that they could apply to virtually any site that enables user interaction. This includes educational platforms, niche communities, gaming forums, collaboration websites or even news websites with comment functionality.

Real-World Impact
Despite claiming the laws will protect children, the government does not intend to apply the same restrictions to messaging apps or online games — the very spaces where young people most often encounter harm. As a result, the policy may have little effect on actual safety outcomes. Children can still access these spaces, use shared or fake accounts, or browse in logged-out modes where no restrictions apply.

Meanwhile, these laws will require websites to implement identity checks for all users in Australia. This may involve:

1. Verifying whether an account is already 16 years old
2. Collecting personal identification documents
3. Collecting credit card information

The government has also promoted the idea that AI can determine a user's age. This claim is not supported by evidence. AI cannot accurately determine if someone is 16 or 18 years old based on appearance, behaviour, or content consumption. Adults often consume child-friendly content and vice versa, making such methods unreliable and prone to error.

These requirements will expose Australians to increased cybersecurity and privacy risks, as more personal information will need to be shared with a growing number of services simply to access content and platforms that were previously open and anonymous.

In a worst-case scenario, smaller websites, forums, and community platforms may choose to block access to Australian users entirely to avoid compliance costs or legal risk. This would limit access to global platforms and make Australia a less connected and less competitive digital economy.

In Summary
These new laws are unlikely to protect children in any meaningful way. Instead, they introduce serious privacy concerns, impose costly compliance burdens on websites, and may lead to Australians being excluded from global digital platforms. The legislation puts every Australian at greater risk, while doing little to address the actual sources of online harm.