Remember when you could just lie about your birth year and call it a day?
Those days are officially over: Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat are all complying with Australia’s strict new under-16 social media ban.
If they don’t comply, this legislation slaps platforms with a $50M penalty. It stands to affect over 1M teens, so there’s a chance marketers may see some impact in engagement.
YouTube, however, is playing hardball. The platform refuses to comply, arguing it’s a streaming site, not a social platform. Hm…
Google is getting serious about it, too: The company is rolling out age verification on the Play Store that forces users to prove they’re 18 or older.
This stems from incoming regulations in Texas, Utah, and Louisiana. Good to know if you’re targeting apps toward younger audiences.
This isn’t isolated, either. California was working on a bill backed by Google and Meta a while ago that would require device-level age checks.
And Bluesky recently launched verification in Ohio to comply with state law.
Read the room: Age verification is becoming the norm, not the exception.
Whether it’s app stores, social platforms, or emerging networks, expect more gatekeeping ahead. And potentially tighter audience targeting as a result.
