A Guardian analysis of age assurance technology trial data, which will underpin the government’s teen social media ban, shows the impact of introducing age checks will fall hardest on already-marginalised groups.
Data from the trial, published alongside the report, shows that the age estimation software tested is less accurate for people with an Indigenous or south-east Asian background. This means young people from these backgrounds are more likely to be miscategorised as over the age limit, or older people categorised as underaged when they’re not.
