Snap decision: another social app issues age warnings
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson |
More than 400,000 Australians will be asked to verify their age or identity, and warned their social media accounts will be locked if they don’t.
Messaging app Snapchat issued the warning on Monday ahead of Australia’s social media age ban due to come into effect on December 10.
Starting this week, the company will issue warnings to any user who has nominated their age as under 16 years, or who Snapchat’s software determines could be under the limit.
Warnings will be issued through the Snapchat app, SMS messages and emails, and will give users three ways to verify their age or identity.
The action comes days after social media giant Meta began issuing warnings to Facebook, Instagram and Threads users it deemed younger than 16 years, announcing it would begin deactivating accounts from December 4.
In a blog post, Snapchat said it did not agree with its classification as a social media platform and would continue to advocate for other ways to limit children’s access to messaging apps.
“We know that, for teens, maintaining friendships is a key contributor to happiness and wellbeing and are deeply saddened that young Aussies can no longer connect with their nearest and dearest via Snapchat,” a spokesman said.
“However, even though we strongly disagree with the government’s assessment that Snapchat is an age-restricted social media platform, we will disable accounts for users under 16 from December 10.”
Snapchat, which told a Senate inquiry it had almost 440,000 Australian users aged between 13 and 15 years, will give users three ways to verify their age.
Users can share selfies with a third-party provider, k-ID, to estimate their age using software, or they can share government-issued identification with the company.
Alternatively, they can use Australian firm ConnectID to verify their age using a connection to a bank account.
Banks using the service only confirm the customer’s age, ConnectID managing director Andrew Black said, and do not share other personal information.
“People are understandably uneasy about uploading passports or licences to social media apps,” he said.
“The goal here is to protect young people online without creating new privacy risks.”
Snapchat accounts locked under the ban will be preserved for three years before they are deactivated, and young users have been urged to download their data as soon as possible.
Snapchat is one of 10 platforms that will be subject to Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Act, as determined by the eSafety Commission, with others including Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Kick, Reddit, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube.
Each platform will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts or face fines up to $49.5 million.
AAP
