{"id":30553,"date":"2026-03-09T08:13:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30553"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:13:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:13:33","slug":"australians-must-prove-they-are-over-18-to-access-porn-under-new-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/03\/09\/australians-must-prove-they-are-over-18-to-access-porn-under-new-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians must prove they are over 18 to access porn under new laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Australians must prove they are over 18 before they can access adult content such as porn, R-rated video games and sexually explicit AI chatbots under new laws.<\/b><\/p>\n

The changes will protect children from harmful content, with platforms fined for breaches, Australia’s online safety regulator said.<\/p>\n

“We don’t allow children to walk into bars or bottle shops, adult stores or casinos, but when it comes to online spaces… there are no such safeguards,” its commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.<\/p>\n

Experts say the new laws – which come three months after Australia introduced an under-16s social media ban – will face similar concerns over data privacy and users trying to trick age-verification technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In Australia, as in many countries, users visiting adult sites are usually asked to verify their age by clicking on a box that says they are over 18.<\/p>\n

But the new changes mean platforms must introduce stricter age-verification checks from Monday.<\/p>\n

This can include facial recognition technology, digital IDs and credit card details.<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, companies behind search engines, app stores, social media and gaming platforms, porn sites and AI systems – including companion chatbots – must take “meaningful steps” to prevent children from being exposed to adult content.<\/p>\n

“If a young person searches the internet for suicide or self-harm content, the first result they see will be a helpline – not a harmful online rabbit hole,” Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, said in the lead-up to the new rules being announced.<\/p>\n

Research by her agency found that one in three children aged 10-17 had seen sexual images or videos online.<\/p>\n

It also found that more than 70% of children had been exposed to online content showing high-impact violence, self-harm and suicide material, and information on disordered eating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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