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Australia to Enforce Sweeping Online Age Checks on Porn, Games and AI From Monday

Penalties of up to AU$49.5 million await services that do not block under‑18s from adult content.

Overview

  • The eSafety codes cover pornography sites, search engines, app stores, online R18+ games, and generative AI chatbots capable of explicit or self‑harm content.
  • Platforms must use age‑assurance methods deemed accurate, robust, fair and reliable, with simple self‑declaration no longer accepted.
  • Search engines will blur results featuring pornography or high‑impact violence by default for users not logged in, and suicide or eating‑disorder queries will surface helpline links first.
  • The requirement applies to online components of R18+ games, while offline single‑player titles are unaffected.
  • The regulator says it will monitor compliance from day one, with some adult sites already limiting registrations ahead of enforcement.