By Internewscast
By the end of this year, using search engines in Australia will become more complex than it has been in the past.
This change comes with the introduction of a new online safety code announced by Australia鈥檚 eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant.
The code mandates that Australian users confirm their age when signing into a search engine account, among other provisions.
What鈥檚 in the new code?
The code orders providers of internet search-engine services such as Google and Microsoft (which owns Bing) to 鈥渋mplement appropriate age assurance measures for account holders鈥 within six months.
While the code does not define the age of a 鈥渃hild鈥 as being under 18, or another age, a search engine must apply tools and settings that 鈥渁t a minimum鈥 filter out online pornography and extremely violent material from search results.
Providers must also ensure advertising in these content areas is not served up in search results to child account holders.
Currently, Google account holders must be at least 13 years old.
For example, providers must 鈥減revent autocomplete predictions that are sexually explicit or violent鈥 and prominently display crisis-prevention information, such as helplines, in the results for queries relating to topics such as self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.
Search engine providers will also have to blur some images in search results by default to reduce the risk of kids inadvertently accessing or being exposed to pornographic or violent material.
And they will have to provide parental controls to limit or alter children鈥檚 access to adult material.
The new code has been in development since July 2024. It was co-drafted by the Digital Industry Group Inc, an industry association representing tech companies including Google, Meta and Microsoft.
How will the code work in practice?
The code does not spell out the measures to be used to assure someone鈥檚 age.
They could include asking for government-issued ID or be similar to strategies currently being assessed for the Australian government鈥檚 under-16s social media ban, such as facial recognition technology.
Changing how people search
Once implemented, age assurance requirements will likely change how people engage with search engines and other applications.
Google is used by more than 90 per cent of Australians and for more than just searching.
Google has a large suite of popular apps and services, such as Gmail, Google Drive and Google Maps. Source: Getty / Chesnot
Repeated age assurance requests could disrupt the seamlessness of content-sharing across devices that users now experience.
Many people also opt to remain logged in to their accounts on multiple devices, to quickly enable cross-device activities.
This means within a family, users of multiple ages may access content on a single account, even when they don鈥檛 intend to do so.
Will search engines need to change this functionality, to more regularly log users off their accounts, and reconfirm the account holder鈥檚 age?
And how will the code affect features such as Google鈥檚 鈥榠ncognito mode鈥, which is used for private searching?
The code will apply to 鈥渁ny features integrated within the search functionality and the user interface鈥 of the service, including results generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
However, the code doesn鈥檛 apply to 鈥渟tandalone applications or tools that are not integrated within the internet search engine service鈥.
This means that while a browser extension such as ChatGPT for Google may fall under the code, as an integrated search engine service, the standalone ChatGPT app could be excluded.
Will the code work?
As with all age assurance checks, there may be ways people can get around these new search engine controls.
For example, they may use VPNs to trick the system into believing they are outside of Australia (and therefore not subject to age assurance checks).
Or, children may access content on older people鈥檚 accounts and devices.
However, the code does preempt concerns that children might get around controls by simply not logging in to their accounts. And the code鈥檚 insistence on reporting mechanisms means people of all ages will be able to report material and raise complaints about potential code violations.
In this way, the code seems to reflect the government鈥檚 previously proposed (but now, paused) 鈥渄igital duty of care鈥 legislation, which aimed to hold technology companies to account for the content they provide.
One crucial question remains: will the steps companies take to comply with the code meet Australians鈥 expectations for seamless, integrated search practices and personal privacy as they access information online?