Australia is implementing stringent age verification measures across a broad spectrum of online platforms, including adult video games, pornography, and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. This expansion of digital safety regulations targets content deemed inappropriate for children.
The new Age-Restricted Material Codes require online services to confirm user age before granting access to material such as high-impact violence, pornography, and content related to self-harm or suicide. The legislation comes into effect this week.
According to Australia's e-safety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, the regulations aim to ensure minors receive immediate assistance, such as helpline information, when searching for sensitive content, preventing them from encountering harmful online material instead.
Grant emphasized the measures extend existing real-world protections to the digital realm, noting the disparity between restrictions on minors in physical spaces and their unfettered access online. The rules will specifically address AI chatbots capable of generating sexual or graphic content, requiring age confirmation for users seeking such material.
This initiative follows legal actions in the United States concerning AI chatbots allegedly contributing to self-harm among teenagers. Australia previously led in online child protection by restricting social media account creation for users under 16.