Posted on 01/02/2026 5:20:16 AM PST by fluorescence
Australia has activated a new requirement for search engines to verify the ages of their signed-in users, with companies now facing a six-month countdown to full compliance.
The rule, which began on December 27, sits within a newly registered industry code under the authority of the eSafety Commissioner and extends the country’s expanding system of online content controls.
Search services such as Google and Bing must soon introduce age-assurance checks when logged-in users perform searches that might surface adult or otherwise “high-impact” material.
The mechanisms vary, but common approaches include prompting users to confirm their age through a pop-up screen or submitting an official document, credit card details, or digital ID.
The eSafety framework allows companies to choose their method, yet the guidance materials show a narrow range of real-world options: facial-recognition age estimates, photo ID scans, parent verification for minors, or reliance on third-party verification services already holding age data.
All options are privacy-invasive and would end anonymous searches.
For those not logged in, searches will still function, but some content may appear blurred.
Logged-in users under 18 will automatically receive filtered results excluding topics the government labels as harmful.
How these controls will coexist with privacy-focused or anonymous search engines remains unclear.
Google, which controls more than 90 percent of Australia’s search market, and Microsoft both risk penalties of up to about $50 million per breach if they fail to comply by the June 27, 2026, deadline.
The new obligations form part of a longer campaign by Canberra to tighten online speech and access to speech.
Over the past several years, lawmakers have broadened the eSafety Commissioner’s mandate and pushed for stricter age limits on social media use.
The government’s rhetoric has framed these efforts as protective, but the architecture being built effectively positions identity verification as a precondition for access to key parts of the internet.
Although the code took effect at the end of 2025, the change drew little public attention. That is partly because the rules emerged through administrative regulation rather than new legislation, sidestepping open parliamentary debate.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, briefly referenced the measures during her address to the National Press Club, stating, “These provisions will serve as a bulwark and operate in lock step with the new social media age limits,” and, “It’s critical to ensure the layered safety approach…including on the app stores and at the device level, the physical gateways to the internet where kids sign up and first declare their ages.”
Her comments suggest an ambition to extend verification across more digital environments, possibly to app stores and operating systems themselves.
The broader question, however, concerns how far a government will go in mandating identity checks for access to online information. While officials frame the policy as protective, the infrastructure it introduces risks eroding the ability to search and browse freely without identification.
For those committed to a free and open internet, the new code is a move toward conditional access, a system in which anonymity and information freedom may soon depend on government-approved credentials.
DNS DNS DNS
So, once only digital ID is allowed, the govt will have access to every site you ever visited and if they use and store key-stroke apps, they’ll know what you typed while on a site. 1984 comes to mind.
American demorats can only DREAM of such things...till they get into power.
Agreed, this digital ID idea will make it easier for big brother to monitor everything you do on the net.
But those tools are already available for those “persons of interest” that they already monitor.
I’ve read about all the modern devices that can be used to monitor a person, which includes smart TV’s. Our old TV gave up it’s ghost and we were forced to buy a smart TV. When setting it up I figured out how to bypass the TV accessing the internet.
However, if one streams TV, those monitoring your personal home network will still know what you are watching.
Knowing what I know about the Australian government I’d say that’s spot on.....and under the guise of “protecting: the youth.......despicable.
You gotta learn its ip and mac addresses and block them in your router
My bravia tv can stream locally from a shared win7 pc, but not on the www.
Fyi — Nielsen has contracts with www outfits and they dont need paper diaries anymore
Australia’s socialist ruling party is locking down the internet so that their subjects won’t be able to see information that contradicts the regime’s diktats.
They don’t want another repeat of covid, when people could just go on the internet and read factual information about the lockdowns, the clot shot mandates, or organize protests.
They are also going to introduce this year a new Digital Duty of Care Act that will give them more power to define “harmful” content that must be scrubbed from the web.
1) Set up an anonymous login for a free streaming service (i.e. Tubi).
2) Use a VPN to connect to it from your laptop or phone.
3) Wirelessly connect to your TV or ROKU device from your laptop.
Most people aren't going to do that. And if you have to pay for the streaming service in step 1, the streaming service knows who you are and what you stream anyway.
“high impact”
Quite terrifying.
Free Republic will be marked as “high impact” material and censored for youth in Australia.
Mark my words.
Grok:
Yes, you can use Grok in Australia without providing any government-issued ID or similar identity verification.
Here's a quick breakdown as of January 2026:
Basic/free access to Grok (including the latest models with usage limits) is available via:
the standalone Grok iOS/Android apps
grok.com
x.com
You can start using it without logging in (anonymous mode, no account needed) or by signing in with email, Google, Apple, or an X account. No ID upload is required for standard use.
Some advanced or “spicy” features (e.g., certain image generation modes) may prompt for a self-declared birthdate to confirm you're an adult, but this is just entering a date — no actual ID verification or document submission is enforced for Grok itself.
Full/unlimited access (e.g., Grok 4) requires a paid subscription like SuperGrok or X Premium+, but even those don't mandate ID verification — just payment and possibly phone/email confirmation.
Note: Separate from Grok, the X platform (formerly Twitter) has age verification options (selfie or government ID) for accessing sensitive/adult content on X, often tied to Premium subscriptions. This is for X features, not for using Grok.
Grok has been fully available in Australia since late 2024 (including app rollouts and worldwide expansion). There are no geo-restrictions or mandatory ID requirements blocking access. If you're running into issues, try the official apps or grok.com directly. Enjoy! 🚀
I have some sympathy for efforts to keep children away from the dangerous parts of the internet, including algorithms that may actually be changing how their brains think. I’d like to think that parents can handle this without government intervention but that has proven to not be true. I’d also like to think that the government could come up with an age verification system and not abuse it for authoritarian political purposes but that has proven to not be true too. But letting kids go on the internet and use Tik-Tok and other algorithm-based applications without restriction is going to result in a generation of kids with mental problems.
I get most of our stuff off p2p, aka torrents.
And use win7 media player to Bravia TV. Did it so long ago, not sure how it works, but it does. DLNA or something.
I have a PC connected to my smart TV via an HDMI cable. I never use the software on the TV itself. If I could ever figure how to remove the “smart TV” ptogramming and transition it just a regular TV/monitor I’d do it. But as a backup I still have my old 32” TV/monitor, no software on it.
Now that’s an interesting idea. Noever thought of that.
The dlna works to tv from linux too
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