Meta Proposes Shifting Age Verification Responsibility From Social Media to App Stores

Global tech giant Meta has proposed Australia implement an app store-based approach to age verification for social media platforms, arguing that existing industry measures have limitations. This comes as Australia’s major political parties push for a social media ban for children under 16 years old in the country. Under the plans backed by the Opposition, digital platforms are required to take measures to verify the age of their users or face fines. However, at a parliamentary inquiry hearing on Sept. 4, Meta Vice President and Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis proposed that introducing age verification at the app store on mobile devices would streamline the process....