The United Kingdom's online safety minister, Kanishka Narayan, has returned from a week-long visit to Australia, where he studied the practical implementation of the country's pioneering social media ban for children under 16. The UK government is expected to announce its own crackdown on social media within weeks, following a public consultation that could lead to restrictions on teen access by the end of this year.
Learning from Australia's Experience
Narayan met with Australian state and federal government ministers, school students, and the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, to gather insights. He acknowledged that Australia has been a pioneer in this area, and the UK aims to benefit from its lead. "One benefit of going second is that we learn some practical implementation lessons," Narayan told the Guardian.
The debate in Australia has largely focused on the effectiveness of the ban. Data from the eSafety commissioner indicates that two-thirds of teens under 16 have remained on social media since the ban took effect in December. Five major platforms—Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook—are under investigation for non-compliance.
Age Assurance and Compliance
Narayan emphasized that if the UK chooses to limit platforms, it must determine which ones to include and how to effectively verify user ages. "There are practical lessons on how you might do more robust age assurance so that we can keep making sure the compliance rates are inching upwards," he said.
Inman Grant told the Australian parliament that some platforms had poor implementation practices, including one that allowed users an average of 24 attempts per day to pass facial age assurance tests. However, after five companies were warned of potential fines up to A$49.5 million per breach, improvements were observed. These include requiring additional age checks, introducing new verifications when users attempt to change their date of birth, and simplifying the process for parents to report their teens' accounts.
Ongoing Process, Not a Silver Bullet
Narayan stressed that practical implementation is an ongoing learning process. "There are lessons on effective age assurance and a sense that this is not a silver bullet. It is an ongoing process of improvement, both in policy and enforcement, in regulatory engagement with the companies," he said.
He noted that the social media ban has had a significant impact on public norms and conversations. "I really appreciated the way in which Australia pioneering in this regard has meant that parents, families, carers, youth workers are all engaging in this national conversation. And that in itself, I think, has an impact," he added.
UK-Australia Collaboration on AI Security
In addition to social media, the UK and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding to share information between their AI security institutes. This collaboration aims to address the latest developments in frontier AI and prevent cyber-attacks facilitated by these models.
The UK is ahead in terms of its dedicated AI Security Institute, but Narayan described the relationship as a two-way street. "We have a pretty deep relationship when it comes to intelligence sharing," he said. "I think Australia already has a lot to offer the UK when it comes to intelligence collaboration."
Narayan emphasized that information gathering about frontier models is not about trusting AI companies. When asked whether companies seek favorable treatment on issues like copyright in exchange for early access, he stated that British regulation is "not up for sale."
"Ultimately, security is not going to be built on the foundations of trusting companies," he said. "It’s going to be built by having internal capability in our society … Our big focus has been on shoring up British capabilities so that we are the most resilient we can be against risks. We can’t just trust and rely on the companies."
