Ofcom proposes age verification methods for the social media ban for under-16s

The regulator has identified age verification methods

The UK regulator Ofcom has published recommendations on the most effective ways to determine which of the millions of social media users in the UK are over 16. Under the ban, which is due to come into force in March next year, people under that age will not be able to access the ten largest platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. BBC News reports.

Four recommended methods

Age verification is difficult for 16–17-year-olds: they do not have credit cards or full driving licences, may not have a passport, and can look older or younger than they are. In addition to traditional documents, Ofcom recommended four methods it considers 'highly effective' for determining age: matching a photo ID with a live image of the person during verification; banking checks based on a financial institution's data about a customer's age; facial age estimation technology, which the regulator says has improved recently; and digital identity services. The BBC asked the UK's three largest banks whether they would be willing to help social media companies verify ages if this method is officially approved.

Responsibility lies with the platforms

Ultimately, implementing the checks will fall to technology companies: the duty to develop their own solutions and meet the requirements rests with social media providers. Ofcom chief Dame Melanie Dawes told the BBC that the regulator is drawing on the experience of introducing stricter age checks on adult websites last year: in her words, the prescriptive approach used by other countries 'did not work', so Ofcom merely lists options that work, while requiring privacy and data protection. Some companies, including Meta, argue for age verification at the device level, so that apps cannot be installed through app stores; Apple has already introduced such verification in the UK. However, Ofcom believes this does not exempt social media companies from carrying out their own checks.

Millions of adults and the risk of circumvention

Many adult users will probably also have to confirm that they are not minors. The regulator did not give an exact number of such people, but acknowledged that it concerns a 'large number of accounts' that companies will have to deal with. Ofcom also admitted that 'the risk of circumvention cannot be completely eliminated', and that some children will manage to get around the checks. The experience of Australia, where a similar ban was introduced last year, shows that many children there found ways to get around it; the UK, she said, intends to apply a stricter approach. Ofcom's report will now be considered by the government, with a decision expected by the end of the year.

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