eSafety has delivered a roadmap to the Federal Government exploring how age verification and other measures could be used to prevent and mitigate harm to children from online pornography.
In a statement, eSafety said it had been developing the Age Verification Roadmap since June 2021, at the request of the previous Government as part of its response to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs report, Protecting the age of innocence.
“In developing the roadmap, eSafety has conducted research, technical assessments and consultation with stakeholders, and taken into account feedback from industry, stakeholders, experts and the public, including children and young people,” eSafety said.
“Following delivery of the roadmap, it will now be the role of government to decide on next steps, including the release of the roadmap,” it said.
“Without pre-empting any decisions by Government, eSafety’s research and engagement in developing the roadmap has identified that any potential technological solutions need to strike the right balance between safety, security and privacy.”
eSafety said any potential solutions must also go hand in hand with education and awareness raising for children and young people, as well as parents, carers, educators and other supporting adults.
It said children’s access to age-inappropriate content would also be addressed through the second phase of mandatory industry codes or standards, which would apply across the online industry.
“eSafety will assess whether each industry code provides appropriate community safeguards before making a decision to register the code or determine a binding standard for that section of the online industry,” the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant said.
“The second phase of industry codes will have a focus on high-impact content that can be harmful to children, including pornography, with the aim of ensuring the online industry has meaningful measures in place to prevent children from accessing or encountering age-inappropriate content,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“Development of this set of industry codes will follow the registration of the first phase of industry codes or the determination of industry standards,” she said.
Further information on eSafety’s Age Verification Roadmap can be accessed at this PS News link.
