Show Notes
As Australia introduces its ban on under-16s accessing social media — including YouTube — we examine the emergence of the age-restricted internet in countries around the world. They’re supposed to protect kids from online harms, but do the restrictions actually work? And what effects do age verification measures such as AI-powered facial scanning have on adults?
If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. Please also consider subscribing to my mailing list: https://subscribe-forms.beehiiv.com/d763645e-9f25-4e6c-839a-da39daa947df
Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades.
To contact me, please email [email protected] or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites
REFERENCES:
Australian regulators say the world will follow https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-says-world-will-follow-social-media-ban-meta-starts-blocking-teens-2025-12-04/
Teens can get around facial age estimation tools https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/12/04/social-media-ban-parents-help-teens/
Wikipedia loses its challenge against the UK’s Online Safety Act https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr11qqvvwlo
UK regulator suggests age-restricting VPNs https://www.theverge.com/tech/827435/uk-vpn-restrictions-ban-online-safety-act
KOSA remains controversial in the US https://www.theverge.com/policy/837123/house-energy-commerce-kids-online-safety-package-hearing
Adult websites need age verification across most of the US https://www.404media.co/missouri-age-verification-law-porn-id-check-vpns/
More from Tech Gets Real
European banks really do have to refund customers who lose money in phishing scams, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in a Polish case. The CJEU’s decision is a big deal for phishing victims who until now have usually been forced to take the hit themselves.
Norway is about to ban camera-equipped smart glasses such as Meta AI Glasses from many public spaces, and a Dutch eyewear retailer is dropping the category from its lineup, because of social and legal pushback. Can a company like Meta, which has many privacy scandals under its belt and which is close to the Trump administration, get around this kind of resistance?
New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham used a major UN speech to announce a pushback against Russian online disinformation campaigns that fuel far-right unrest in the UK. We need to see the details, because there’s a risk of fueling far-right persecution claims if this is not handled with care.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday proposed a wide-ranging “alliance for the future” between his country and the European Union. It was all about self-preservation in the face of Trump’s America – and a lot of it was about tech sovereignty, particularly regarding AI and its infrastructure.
Anthropic has not given UK and European AI officials access to Mythos 5.1, its latest powerful model, seemingly because the Trump administration won’t allow it. There’s no easy explanation for this – especially as OpenAI is being allowed to grant similar access to its latest model,