Most Australians over 16 will not be expected to verify their age online under the nation's impending social media ban for children and teenagers, with the government advising tech companies not to retain data from individual age checks after a report raised significant fears over privacy.

Communications Minister Anika Wells and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant will release guidance for social media platforms on Tuesday, ahead of Australia's under-16 social media ban taking effect in December .

Under the new laws, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat, must take "reasonable steps" to prevent children from creating accounts on their sites and deactivate existing ones or else face fines of up to $50 million.

According to eSafety's guidance, platfor

See Full Page