The infrastructure and technology to enforce an under-16s social media ban is working and in place, according to London-based digital ID group Yoti.
Ahead of the enforcement of the under-16s social media ban in Australia, set for 10 December, Yoti assured UKTN that the technology behind the bold move “works at scale”, amid speculation that similar actions could take place in the UK.
The British age estimation and ID verification company has been one of the big winners of global policy shifts towards preventing young people from accessing harmful online content.
As well as being a key figure in Australia’s Age Assurance Technology Trial prior to the ban’s enforcement, Yoti has worked extensively with the British government regarding the Online Safety Act.
The UK took action to prevent under-18s from accessing adult content, notably pornography, earlier this year and relevant ministers have noted that an Australia-style social media ban is “on the table” if it proves to be effective.
Addressing concerns that enforcing such large-scale bans would be impossible, Yoti said age assurance firms have been providing this service for years.
“At Yoti alone, we’ve completed over one billion age checks for platforms worldwide. We process around one million age checks daily across facial age estimation, Digital ID, identity document checks and our other age-checking services, typically receiving 10-40 requests per second,” the company said.
The firm noted that while globally we are at an early stage for this kind of policy, age assurance is becoming universal, and from that will come minimum performance standards, clear expectations and a strong evidence base.
“In short: Both Australia and Yoti are ready. Now the standards will need to evolve to keep pace,” said the firm.
