\n<\/p>\n
Snapchat has begun asking children and teenagers in Australia to verify their ages, including with software owned by the country\u2019s banks, according to a company spokesperson.<\/p>\n
The move on Monday comes as Australia prepares to enforce a world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 starting on December 10.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The law, which threatens social media platforms with a fine of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($31.95m) for noncompliance, is one of the world\u2019s toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.<\/p>\n In addition to Snapchat, the ban currently applies to YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch and Kick.<\/p>\n In a statement on Saturday, Snapchat said users will be able to verify their age through the ConnectID application, which links to their bank accounts, or by using software owned by Singapore-headquartered age-assurance provider, k-ID.<\/p>\n ConnectID, which is owned and used by most major Australian banks, said it would send the tech platform a \u201cyes\/no\u201d signal about whether the person was over 16 based on their account details, without making them upload sensitive information.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal here is to protect young people online without creating new privacy risks,\u201d said ConnectID managing director Andrew Black in a statement.<\/p>\n In the k-ID option, users can upload government-issued identification cards to verify their ages or submit photos, which the application will then use to estimate an age range.<\/p>\n Snapchat has previously said it believes about 440,000 of its users in Australia are aged between 13 and 15.<\/p>\n Snapchat added that it \u201cstrongly disagreed\u201d with the Australian government\u2019s assessment that it should be included in the social media ban, claiming its service provides a \u201cvisual messaging app\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDisconnecting teens from their friends and family doesn\u2019t make them safer \u2013 it may push them to less safe, less private messaging apps,\u201d it warned.<\/p>\n Some other apps have been able to secure an exception from the ban, including Discord, WhatsApp, Lego Play and Pinterest. But Australian authorities have reserved the right to update the list of banned platforms as required.<\/p>\n A number of young people and advocates have expressed concerns about the potential consequences of the new ban, including 18-year-old journalist and founder of youth news service 6 News Australia Leo Puglisi, who told an Australian Senate inquiry that the ban will affect young people\u2019s access to information.<\/p>\n UNICEF Australia has also expressed concerns about implementation, saying the changes proposed by the Australian government \u201cwon\u2019t fix the problems young people face online\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial media has a lot of good things, like education and staying in touch with friends,\u201d UNICEF Australia said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think it\u2019s more important to make social media platforms safer and to listen to young people to make sure any changes actually help.\u201d<\/p>\n Katrina Lines, the CEO of children\u2019s therapy provider Act for Kids, said that parents should start having conversations with children as soon as possible about how they can stay connected as the ban comes into effect over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to keep the lines of communication open in the lead up to and even long after these changes take effect,\u201d Lines said.<\/p>\n Act for Kids said it surveyed more than 300 Australian children aged 10 to 16, and found 41 percent would prefer to connect with family in real life compared to only 15 percent who preferred to spend time online. But Lines said families still need to work out how to improve in-person connections.<\/p>\n \u201cOne way of starting this conversation could be by asking them how they would like to stay connected to friends and family outside of social media,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Australian ban comes amid growing global concern over the effects of social media on children\u2019s health and safety, and companies including TikTok, Snapchat, Google and Meta Platforms \u2013 the operator of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp \u2013 are facing lawsuits in the United States for their role in fuelling a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n Regulators around the world are closely watching whether Australia\u2019s sweeping restrictions can work.<\/p>\n Malaysia\u2019s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Sunday that the Malaysian government also plans to ban social media for users under the age of 16, starting from next year.<\/p>\n He said the government was reviewing the mechanisms used in Australia and other nations to impose age restrictions for social media use, citing a need to protect youths from online harms such as cyberbullying, financial scams and child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope by next year that social media platforms will comply with the government\u2019s decision to bar those under the age of 16 from opening user accounts,\u201d he told reporters, according to a video of his remarks posted online by local daily The Star.<\/p>\n In New Zealand, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is also planning to introduce a similar bill to restrict children\u2019s social media use, while\u00a0Indonesia, too, has said it is preparing legislation to protect young people from \u201cphysical, mental, or moral perils\u201d.<\/p>\n In Europe, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Greece are jointly testing a template for an age verification app, while\u00a0the Dutch government has advised parents to forbid children under 15 from using social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Snapchat has begun asking children and teenagers in Australia to verify their ages, including with software owned by the country\u2019s banks, according to a company spokesperson. The move on Monday comes as Australia prepares to enforce a world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 starting on December 10. Recommended Stories list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
\u2018Keep lines of communication open\u2019<\/h2>\n
Global concern<\/h2>\n
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