The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported in July that Google and Microsoft will be required to implement some form of age-assurance technology by 27 December. If the companies fail to comply, they could face fines of up to nearly AUS$50 million per breach.
This requirement is part of new industry codes registered by the Australian eSafety Commissioner and applies only to users who are signed into their accounts.
These industry codes are not formal legislation as they do not go through Parliament. Instead, The Guardian said, they’re developed by the technology industry and registered by the eSafety commissioner in a process called co-regulation. By bypassing the Parliamentary process, these industry codes can give an enormous amount of power to an unelected official, the eSafety commissioner.
In the meantime, writers are leaving Substack in response to similar censorship and “age verification” rules implemented on the platform earlier this month....<<<Read More>>>...
