America has recently taken steps to dissuade foreign governments from censoring US-based platforms, including the proposed GRANITE Act and sanctions against five EU officials.
New rules requiring search engines like Google to verify the age of logged-in users — and filter the content for everyone else — went live in Australia this week.
The Australian eSafety Commissioner’s new rules came into force on Dec. 27, with a six-month timeframe for full implementation. They require search engines to verify users’ ages using methods including photo ID, face scanning, credit cards, digital ID, parental consent, AI, or third-party verification.
According to regulatory guidance, the highest-level safety filters must be applied by default to accounts suspected of being operated by someone under 18; companies must create a reporting mechanism to flag violators; and search results must be filtered for unsafe content such as pornography and graphic violence.
Privacy and free speech campaigners hold significant concerns about the regulations.
Jason Bassler, the co-founder of The Free Thought Project podcast, said in an X post on Monday that “starting 2 days ago, Australians are now required to upload their ID to use a search engine,” and speculated the country is the “beta test for a world where freedom and privacy quietly die… and it won’t stop there.”