Following Australia’s ban on social media use for those under 16, there is a trend of circumventing restrictions using VPNs.
This article states that each platform is likely capable of countering VPN circumvention. It outlines methods for addressing attempts to bypass regulations using VPNs, leveraging the following technologies and data:
IP-based VPN detection
Historical activity data
Massive amounts of data apps can collect, including location information
In-app behavior such as tags, follows/followers, and interaction content
I’m inclined to believe platforms want more users on there so they may not even bother with ensuring of this as long as they even minimally comply with the law as framed and stated.
I’m somewhat inclined to agree especially if you look at Google’s blog article on the issue. They state very clearly state signed out users aren’t effected, and then go on to say by doing that you’re now not able to use their parental controls. The post actually comes across as very human and not the usual corporate lip service most companies do most of the time.
I also doubt that social networks are going to start using all the signals e-karen has suggested. The goal of making it more difficult for kids to use their platform is at odds with their overall goal of gaining users. I think they’ll do just enough to comply but not enough to really matter. You can already see it with the facial verification features, they’re quick to fall back on the tldr of “those things not perfect, not our fault”.
I think it will only be a problem where the account is known to belong to an Australian kid either from advertising data or because they have admitted to it somewhere like in a profile and of course given their birth date.
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