Porn websites begin blocking Australian users as deadline for age verification compliance looms | Social media ban

A number of adult websites began blocking users in Australia from Monday in preparation for new codes requiring age verification.

Guardian Australia confirmed that when visited from an Australian IP address on Friday, RedTube, YouPorn and Tube8 had notices on their sites stating that they “are not currently accepting new account registrations in your area”.

The news was first reported by . cricket.

From Monday, adult sites, AI assistive chatbots and a range of other services including app stores will be required to implement age verification for users trying to access pornography, extremely violent material or self-harm content.

_{Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email}

Australia’s online safety regulator has warned that platforms that fail to comply could face fines of up to $49.5 million per breach.

Aylo, the parent company of the sites that restrict access, said the company would act in accordance with the law.

“Aylo’s video sharing platforms will restrict access to adult material before the March 9 deadline,” the spokesperson said. “Australia is taking a similar approach to the UK; all our evidence shows that it does not effectively protect minors and instead creates harms related to data privacy and exposure to illegal content on non-compliant platforms.”

Other sites have not yet implemented any restrictions. This includes one of the biggest sites, Pornhub, which Aylo also owns.

On Friday, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant welcomed the introduction of the codes.

“We don’t allow kids into bars or bottle shops, adult stores or casinos, but when it comes to the online spaces where they spend most of their time, there are no such safety measures,” Inman Grant said.

“But that is changing for Australian children with these codes, which bring to today’s online world the same common-sense protections we have all grown up with to ensure children have age-appropriate experiences and are not exposed to potentially harmful content too early.”

Sex workers advocacy group Scarlet Alliance warned that the requirement could have a “chilling effect” on platforms willing to run online ads for their services and content, leading to over-filtering of content, including sexual health information, due to concerns of infringement.

Unicef ​​Australia’s head of digital policy, John Livingstone, said the codes would prevent children from being accidentally exposed to pornography.

“Accidental early exposure to content that promotes pornography, violence, self-harm, and eating disorders can have real and lasting effects on a child’s healthy development,” he said. “And we know that parents can’t always realistically monitor their children while they’re online.”

It depends on the platforms to determine the verification method, but the eSecurity official said it could include credit card checks or government ID checks.

The eSafety commissioner said companies must “minimize the collection of personal information” and comply with privacy laws, but there are no restrictions on the collection of personal information beyond those available to other companies.

When the UK implemented a similar age verification system for adult sites last year, in the first week of launch, four of the five most downloaded apps on the Apple app store were virtual private network (VPN) apps; Proton reported an 1,800% increase in downloads of its VPN app.

VPNs allow users to show on sites that they are in another location, which can bypass age-checking requirements in Australia.

But people in England Warned not to use VPNThere are calls for the age assurance system to be expanded to require VPN companies to check ages.