Search engines will soon have to blur pornographic image results to protect children from accidental exposure and automatically redirect Australians seeking information on self-harm to mental health supports. Source: ABC News.
The first tranche of age-restricted material codes requiring online services to protect children from age-inappropriate content like pornography, high-impact violence and content promoting self-harm, suicide or disordered eating is due to take effect from December 27.
They will apply to search engines like Google and Bing, as well as app stores, social media services, online pornography services and generative AI services.
About one in three young Australians is first exposed to pornography before the age of 13, with the content often encountered “unintentionally,” according to research conducted by eSafety in 2022.
A survey of more than 1000 Australians aged 16 to 18 found these encounters online were “frequent, accidental, unavoidable and unwelcome”, described by some teens as “disturbing” and “in your face”.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Australians were increasingly unintentionally encountering age-inappropriate content at a young age.
Ms Inman Grant said the requirement on search engines to blur image results of online pornography was “much the same way” features like “safe search mode” already work on Google and Bing when enabled.
She said one of the most “crucial” aspects of the code would be automatic redirects to mental health support services for searches related to suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.
“These are important societal innovations that will provide greater protections for all Australians who don’t wish to see ‘lawful but awful’ content,” she said.
The codes are separate from the social media age restrictions banning Australians under the age of 16 from holding accounts on popular platforms like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram from December 10.
FULL STORY
Search engines will soon have to blur porn image results in Australia (By Clare Armstrong, ABC News)
National FREE 24/7 Crisis Services: • Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au • Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au • Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 www.kidshelpline.com.au • MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78 www.mensline.org.au • Beyond Blue Support Service 1300 22 4636
