Australians will soon be required to verify their age when logged into Google or other search engines, under new regulations aimed at “protecting children from harmful content”.
The changes are part of a wider framework of codes and standards developed by the eSafety Commissioner, with enforcement starting before the end of 2025.
The age checks—potentially involving facial scans, digital IDs, or credit card verification—will apply only to users logged into search accounts, while logged-out users will still have mostly unrestricted access, with only minimal safeguards like image blurring.
The new rules have drawn mixed reactions, with supporters citing the need for stronger protections for children and critics warning of privacy risks and limited effectiveness. Critics, including Electronic Frontiers Australia, argue that tech-savvy youths could bypass restrictions using VPNs and that age-verification technologies have underperformed in trials.
The eSafety Commissioner is also pushing for industry commitments on chatbot safety amid concerns over AI-driven sexual content targeting children. If voluntary codes are deemed inadequate, the Commissioner has indicated she will move toward imposing mandatory safety standards.
You don’t need to use google.
Yes. That will be until all search engines are forced into it with eye watering fines.
The beginning of the end of Google.
A POLICE STATE RISING with facial recognition and AI surveillance in every city, social scoring systems silently forming, censorship sold as “protection” and unlimited government spending to fund war, not infrastructure. The illusion of choice while all roads lead to control.
Do not comply.
And this is what really gets me. It’s not that the sheeple do not revolt. Na, it’s that they vote for parties that, once in power, enact their autocratic wet dreams.
Honestly at this point I’m startimg to believe Australians are the biggest douche bags on the planet. They are dumber and more passive than a flock of castrated sheep!
I totally agree.
pfft… google is done. Try X and Grok. Result without all the rubbish and ads.
The Australian government seems to have conveniently forgotten that they are signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Under Article 13 of the Convention children have the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds through any media of their choice.
Article 18 makes it clear that the child’s parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. Not the damn government.
Google seems to have become VERY, VERY confused. Best kept away from.
This has nothing to do with “safety”, they always use that excuse when trying to rob people of their basic human rights. This is state controlled digital ID’s in the making. Australia is shaping up to be the an A grade globalist police state, shit hole, alongside the UK. Its already followed the UK down the hate speech law, Orwellian rabbit hole.
Yip.
“We need to protect children’s innocence 😱”
While we also apparently need to simultaneously flood schools and kindies with books about transgenderism, masturbation and having two dads.
Pardon me if I don’t buy it 😒👍
The age-deflecting app is now on the system which fakes age, facial recognition, etc.
I just scanned-in an image of my horse’s backside, loaded it in, and got online where age verification is needed.
The trick?
Just hold-up a hard copy photo on Kodak paper of the horse’s backside to your camera when accessing the Internet / WWW,, after loading the same on the Google account, and the browser opens with no problem!
& the image is of an 8 year old…horse that is…!
BAWHAWHAWHAWHAW…