Overview
- The House of Commons voted 307–173 against a Lords-backed under‑16 ban but approved powers allowing the Science Secretary to restrict children’s access to social media and chatbots, curb VPN use, limit addictive features, and change the digital age of consent.
- A three‑month UK consultation launched last week is seeking views on minimum ages, possible curfews, and design changes such as disabling autoplay and streaks.
- Australia’s six new age‑restricted material codes took legal effect today, requiring proof‑of‑age for pornography sites, R18+ games via app stores and gaming providers, and explicit AI chatbots, with penalties up to A$49.5 million per breach.
- Early market responses in Australia include Aylo blocking or limiting access to major porn sites and a sharp rise in VPN downloads, while regulators report millions of suspected underage accounts already locked since the December social‑media ban.
- Indonesia announced a national under‑16 social‑media ban starting March 28 with implementation details pending, as debate continues over improving age‑assurance tech, privacy risks, and evidence of circumvention such as an Australian student survey finding many teens still online.