Australia BANS key social media apps for kids under 16 — and platforms must enforce the rule



Australia will put the onus on social media platforms to limit access to children under 16 years old.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 amended Australia's reigning online safety measures and gave social media companies time to age‐restrict their platforms and "take reasonable steps to prevent Australian under 16s from having account[s]."

'No Australian will be compelled to use government identification.'

Officially taking effect on December 10, the ban includes Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, X, and YouTube's general platform; YouTube Kids and WhatsApp do not meet the criteria for the ban.

Australia introduced its social media minimum-age framework that included a list of criteria that would result in a platform being banned for those under 16. This included if a platform's sole purpose, or "significant purpose," is to "enable online social interaction between two or more end‐users."

Or if the service "allows end‐users to link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end‐users" and "allows end‐users to post material on the service" and "meets such other conditions (if any) as are set out in the legislative rules," it will not be available for younger Australians.

The legislation can also specify certain platforms, or classes, to not include in the ban.

Social media platforms will be responsible for enforcement, and neither children nor their parents will face punishment should they gain access. Companies face fines of up to $32 million USD or just under $50 million in Australian dollars.

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Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images

The government further defined the requirements placed upon the platforms, adding that they must "take reasonable steps to prevent" those under 16 from having accounts.

The legislation also specified that "no Australian will be compelled to use government identification (including Digital ID) to prove their age online" and that platforms must offer reasonable alternatives to its users.

According to the BBC, other countries are hot on Australia's tail in terms of implementing their own similar bans. This includes the French government, which has begun a parliamentary inquiry into banning children under 15 years old from social media, while also implementing a "digital curfew" for those between 15 and 18.

The Spanish government has also drafted a law that would require parental consent for children under 16 to access social media.

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Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images

Ruling left-wing Labour Party official Anika Wells, who serves as Australia's communications minister (and minister of sport), said that the ban is not "perfect" and is going to "look a bit untidy on the way through."

"Big reforms always do," she added.

Australians under 16 will still be able to access content that is available on a website without being logged in or being a member, as there is virtually no way to prevent that without restricting access to the internet entirely.

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Apple rolls out digital ID, says users get 'privacy and security'



Digital identification is the latest frontier in privacy and data protection, according to its newest purveyor.

Apple rolled out support for digital ID in its Apple Wallet this week, boasting that users can provide a plethora of personal data in order to add their digital identifiers to their phones.

'Biometric authentication using Face ID and Touch ID helps make sure that only you can view and use your Digital ID.'

In order to be eligible for the privilege of digital ID, Apple requires users to have the following:

  • an iPhone 11 or newer or an Apple Watch Series 6 or newer.
  • the latest software version.
  • an Apple account with two-factor authentication turned on.
  • a valid U.S. passport.
  • a device with the region set to the United States.

If meeting the prerequisites, users must scan their passports into their phones, in addition to providing another live photo.

The photo and information must then be authenticated with Face ID or Touch ID.

Digital ID users can present their e-documents at TSA checkpoints for boarding domestic flights and at select businesses, Apple wrote in a blog post.

RELATED: UK government makes digital ID mandatory to get a job: 'Safer, fairer and more secure'

TSA lists digital ID as being supported in at least 16 different states for domestic air travel, as well as Puerto Rico. Apple ID particularly is eligible in most participating states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, and Ohio.

States like Arkansas, Louisiana, New York, and Virginia only support a state-sponsored digital ID.

"Digital ID in Apple Wallet takes advantage of the privacy and security features already built into iPhone and Apple Watch to help protect against tampering and theft," Apple claimed.

"Your Digital ID data is encrypted. Apple can't see when and where you use your Digital ID, and biometric authentication using Face ID and Touch ID helps make sure that only you can view and use your Digital ID," the company added.

The justification for digital ID on the grounds of increased privacy and security mirrors reasoning used by the U.K. government during its recent introduction of mandatory digital ID for its citizens.

RELATED: Can anyone save America from European-style digital ID?

Photo Illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

"This government will make a new, free-of-charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament. Let me spell that out: You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in September.

The leader stated that the digital ID would help crack down on illegal employment and immigration, before adding a moral justification to his argument.

"Because decent, pragmatic, fair-minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that they see around them. And, of course, the truth is we won't solve our problems if we don't also take on the root causes."

As Blaze News previously reported, the digital ID movement seemingly started in the U.K. around 2004. At that time, the BBC published a report criticizing the government and the IDs as a "badly thought out" means of fighting organized crime and terrorism.

Since then, the idea has long been perpetuated by the World Economic Forum, the yearly gathering of government officials and international businessmen who discuss global policy and reform.

The WEF published "A Blueprint for Digital Identity" in 2016, citing the Aadhaar program, a government ID from India. The initiative was meant to "increase social and financial inclusion" for Indians. The Unique Identification Authority of India holds a database of user information "such as name, date of birth, and biometrics data that may include a photograph, fingerprint, iris scan, or other information."

Over 1 billion Indians have enrolled in the program for the 12-digit identity number.

In 2023, the WEF promoted a report on reimagining digital ID.

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Can anyone save America from European-style digital ID?



“This is an Orwell nightmare coming to life right in front of our face. And no one’s flinching.” In a recent episode of his podcast, Joe Rogan raised the alarm about the onrushing global implementation of digital ID, singling out the over 12,000 U.K. arrests due to officially unsavory internet posts.

London states that the British digital ID will simply be used to “curb the prospect of work for illegal migrants, a significant factor driving small boat crossing.” For students of that old conspiracy theory standard the Hegelian dialectic (or the Problem-Reaction-Solution model, whereby the conspirator creates a problem in order bring about a previous unpalatable “solution”), this is solid gold. It’s textbook.

The good news? Polling of U.K. citizenry suggests resounding resistance to implementation of digital ID. Yet the U.K., along with governments around the world, seem to be less concerned with worn-out notions of rights and more interested in redoubling their efforts to establish digital surveillance.

If accomplished at the state level, it’s a short leap to full acceptance.

The September 26 U.K. government press release stating the intent to roll out digital ID touts similar measures established in Estonia, Denmark, India, and Australia. Even though the release suggests the U.K. needs digital ID for immigration purposes, the benefits of such a tool are different for each of the above countries. We can assume that once a tailored excuse for each region has been established and the ID rolled out, the rest of the pieces will fall relatively swiftly into place.

For the British, however, there is no clear answer to the issue of integration into the so-called EUID, the parallel scheme run by the European Union. It’s about centralized data collection and analysis. It will be shared to whatever degree and for whatever purpose government (or its corporate sponsors) deem necessary, and once again, it’s designed to coordinate across systems. Ecosystems. Ecosystems of finance and taxation, plus others cobbled together from salable health or habit data. All with zero guarantees about how this is handled in the future.

Europe goes dark

In Europe, an enormous rollup of private comms is a sneeze away, with the crucial firewall country Germany now wavering. The German government is poised to drop its free-speech stance and cave to the so-called Chat Control policy, driving representatives from the hugely popular chat app Signal to issue a stern press release: “Under the guise of protecting children, the latest Chat Control proposals would require mass scanning of every message, photo, and video on a person’s device, assessing these via a government-mandated database or AI model to determine whether they are permissible content or not.”

It’s estimated that 57 countries already have digital ID in rollout phase. Couple this with the 93 countries that have digital payment systems in place. And consider that 103 countries have installed cross-sectional, national-level, active data exchange systems installed. It isn’t a stretch to see how close we are, at a global level, to Rogan’s “nightmare.”

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Photo by Bloomberg / Contributor via Getty Images

This nightmare has zombies too. Consider that all those monsters that the MAGA coalition ostensibly fought and vanquished are still pushing for digital ID, from international corporate behemoths like Cisco and Google to "non"-governmental organizations like the World Economic Forum.

Imagine digital ID is mandated. Algorithms coordinate with phone data. Everything is processed through one gov/corp-AI or another. Would the stock market be even a little bit legitimate? No. Would consumer information ever be reliable? No. Could checks and balances of any sort ever make it through bought politicians and corporations with access to every trend down to the minute? No. Most versions of digital ID seek to coordinate all personal information into a central, individualized hub available to government and, of course, corporate partners with government.

On to the US?

In America, Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) has been, according to his own website, "one of the leading advocates in Congress for enhanced federal participation in digital identify ecosystems." What exactly would possess Foster to love digital ID, especially when its parameters are so uncertain and its anecdotal favorability rankings are so low? It might be worth examination. Patterns detectable elsewhere may appear.

In the U.S., digital ID has already been pushed at the state level. Twenty-one states have adopted some form of "mobile" (digital) driver's license, Real ID, and so forth. If accomplished at the state level, it’s a short leap to full acceptance. The Department of Homeland Security has already built, funded, and set into motion the Fusion Centers concept. Here we have the federal government vacuuming up (criminal and related) information from state, local, and county-level sources. Recall that the federal government is, by any standard, furiously divided. What seems fair to 50% of the nation today will not, in circumstances where incompatible ideologies and opinions are in contest, seem fair when a new administration takes over.

We’ll soon have to decide: Do we need digital ID today to crush cartel and domestic terrorist activity in the United States? With top-tier Trump backers like Oracle's Larry Ellison fully in favor of digital IDs, citizens may soon be asking whether American greatness in the digital age requires a greater sacrifice than they could have imagined.

ROOKE: UK’s Digital Dystopia Is A Warning For America — But Some Are Treating It Like A Roadmap

'U.S. and U.K. tech firms in enabling the surveillance'

Britain’s Big Brother ID law is the globalist dream for America



On Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood at the podium at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London and made an announcement that should send a chill down the spine of anyone who loves liberty. By the end of this Parliament, he promised, every worker in the U.K. will be required to hold a “free-of-charge” digital ID. Without it, Britons will not be able to work.

No digital ID, no job.

The government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Starmer framed this as a commonsense response to poverty, climate change, and illegal immigration. He claimed Britain cannot solve these problems without “looking upstream” and tackling root causes. But behind the rhetoric lies a policy that shifts power away from individuals and places it squarely in the hands of government.

Solving the problem they created

This is progressivism in action. Leaders open their borders, invite in mass illegal immigration, and refuse to enforce their own laws. Then, when public frustration boils over, they unveil a prepackaged “solution” — in this case, digital identity — that entrenches government control.

Britain isn’t the first to embrace this system. Switzerland recently approved a digital ID system. Australia already has one. The World Economic Forum has openly pitched digital IDs as the key to accessing everything from health care to bank accounts to travel. And once the infrastructure is in place, digital currency will follow soon after, giving governments the power to track every purchase, approve or block transactions, and dictate where and how you spend your money.

All of your data — your medical history, insurance, banking, food purchases, travel, social media engagement, tax information — would be funneled into a centralized database under government oversight.

The fiction of enforcement

Starmer says this is about cracking down on illegal work. The BBC even pressed him on the point, asking why a mandatory digital ID would stop human traffickers and rogue employers who already ignore national insurance cards. He had no answer.

Bad actors will still break the law. Bosses who pay sweatshop wages under the table will not suddenly check digital IDs. Criminals will not line up to comply. This isn’t about stopping illegal immigration. If it were, the U.K. would simply enforce existing laws, close the loopholes, and deport those working illegally.

Instead, the government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Control masked as compassion

This is part of an old playbook. Politicians claim their hands are tied and promise that only sweeping new powers will solve the crisis. They selectively enforce laws to maintain the problem, then use the problem to justify expanding control.

RELATED: Europe pushes for digital ID to help 'crack down' on completely unrelated problems

Photo by Flavio Coelho via Getty Images

If Britain truly wanted to curb illegal immigration, it could. It is an island. The Channel Tunnel has clear entry points. Enforcement is not impossible. But a digital ID allows for something far more valuable to bureaucrats than border security: total oversight of their own citizens.

The American warning

Think digital ID can’t happen here? Think again. The same arguments are already echoing in Washington, D.C. Illegal immigration is out of control. Progressives know voters are angry. When the digital ID pitch arrives, it will be wrapped in patriotic language about fairness, security, and compassion.

But the goal isn’t compassion. It’s control — of your movement, your money, your speech, your future.

We don’t need digital IDs to enforce immigration law. We need leaders with the courage to enforce existing law. Until then, digital ID schemes will keep spreading, sold as a cure for the very problems they helped create.

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Digital ID mandate FORCED on UK citizens is a warning to America



British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the U.K. will force all workers to have a digital ID, which he claimed is a tool to help crack down on out-of-control immigration. But Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is well aware that’s not the real purpose of the digital ID — and that Americans need to watch out for this kind of government response to similar issues.

“This government will make a new, free-of-charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament. Let me spell that out. You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID,” Starmer said, addressing U.K. citizens.

“It’s as simple as that. Because decent, pragmatic, fair-minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that they see around them. And, of course, the truth is we won’t solve our problems if we don’t also take on the root causes,” he continued.


“Looking upstream to tackle poverty, conflict, climate change, issues that aren’t just intolerable for those of us who care about inequality and injustice where it’s found in the world, but which have clear consequences for our own citizens,” he added.

Glenn sees right through Starmer's attempt to explain the dystopian system away.

“They have a problem in England with people coming across the water and just invading the country. And then they’re taking all the jobs from, you know, decent Brits. And they haven’t stopped them, you know, they’re welcoming them in. They’re not turning them away. They’re not sending them back home or anything,” he says.

Instead of turning immigrants away or sending them back to solve the problem of illegal immigration, they’re implementing the digital ID.

“This is the way progressivism works. They create the idea and then they cause the problem so that they can go back and say, ‘We need to do this to solve this problem.’ OK? So they’ve caused the problem of illegal immigration. They’ve caused the problem of all of these things happening on their streets. But don’t worry, they’ve already designed the answer and it’s a digital ID,” Glenn says.

And what’s more worrisome, Glenn explains, is that the digital ID will “have complete control and oversight of your entire life.”

“They want digital ID to control the population. That’s what all of this is about. Control your every movement, your every thought, your every word. Control it, regulate it, and make sure that you’re kept in line,” he adds.

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UK government makes digital ID mandatory to get a job: 'Safer, fairer and more secure'



Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that digital ID will become mandatory in order to be employed in the United Kingdom.

The new ID is part of a government plan to allegedly help fight illegal immigration. The idea is that illegal employment is what is attracting many migrants to make the treacherous trip across the English Channel to move to the U.K.

'You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID.'

Starmer said the IDs would not only make it more difficult to work in the U.K. illegally but that it would offer "countless benefits" to citizens. The BBC reported that senior minister Darren Jones claimed the IDs could also be "the bedrock of the modern state."

The prime minister made the announcement at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London on Friday, stating, "Our immigration system does need to be fair if we want to maintain that binding contract that our politics is built on."

Starmer continued, "And that is why today I am announcing this government will make a new, free of charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament. Let me spell that out: You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID."

"It's as simple as that," the leader sternly stated, before making a moral argument. "Because decent, pragmatic, fair-minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that they see around them. And, of course, the truth is, we won't solve our problems if we don't also take on the root causes."

RELATED: Europe pushes for digital ID to help 'crack down' on completely unrelated problems

The knighted leader continued to claim that the move was an attempt by the government to have "control over its borders."

"We do need to know who is in our country," Starmer added.

"It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labor that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages."

Jonathan Brash, a member of parliament from Hartlepool and politician in Starmer's party, said that it was important to "explode the myths and conspiracy theories being spread on Digital ID."

"It will make our country safer, fairer and more secure," Brash said on his X page, along with an image of a political poster that said the same.

RELATED: Trump's new AI Action Plan reveals our digital manifest destiny

— (@)

"This is a battle for freedom," English reporter Lewis Brackpool told Blaze News. "Liberalism is to blame. This attitude of 'live and let live' caused this freedom-robbing policy. It's time for Brits to take a stand."

Brackpool called for peaceful resistance while pointing to his work with Restore Britain, which has already begun investigating the government's intentions behind the project.

"The British public deserves full transparency on Digital ID drifting into surveillance and financial control," he wrote on X.

In early September, Blaze News reported that both French President Emmanuel Macron and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair were urging Starmer to consider making digital IDs mandatory.

The Daily Mail reported that Blair was pushing the idea in backroom conversations, continuing his early-2000s attempt to push the IDs on the country's citizenry.

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Europe pushes for digital ID to help 'crack down' on completely unrelated problems



European leaders are pushing for the implementation of digital identification.

Specifically, both French President Emmanuel Macron and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair have urged sitting U.K. PM Keir Starmer to consider making digital IDs mandatory.

'The same playbook is being used as a justification for broader powers to the establishment.'

Starmer is under pressure from English activists to stem illegal immigration, with illegal transport by sea from France being the primary focus. For this reason, Macron said he wants Starmer to address the "pull factors" that are allegedly attracting illegal immigrants to the U.K.

Apparently, digital ID would be the best way to do that, according to the French president.

As reported by the Independent, a compulsory national ID card is being considered by the U.K.'s highest office.

"We're willing to look at what works when it comes to tackling illegal migration, ... in terms of applications of digital ID to the immigration system," the prime minister's spokesman said.

"The point here is looking at what works, ensuring that we're doing what we can to address some of the drivers of illegal migration, tackle those pull factors, ensure that we're doing everything we can to crack down on illegal working," the spokesman added, echoing Macron's reasoning.

Simultaneously, a push factor is coming internally from former U.K. leader Blair, who actually tried the scheme before during his third term as prime minister.

RELATED: UK police face wave of backlash over live facial recognition tech at carnival

Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Daily Mail reported that Blair was pushing the idea behind the scenes, continuing his attempt from the early 2000s to enforce the mandatory digital ID.

"In 2005, there was a huge vote which unfortunately was narrowly passed for ID cards in order to crack down on crime," Lewis Brackpool, director of investigations at Restore Britain, told Blaze News. "Many ministers were incredibly skeptical on this move due to its ever increasing powers to the state."

Brackpool cited a 2004 BBC report that criticized the IDs as a "badly thought out" excuse to fight organized crime and terrorism. It noted then that plans for the cards included biometric data that carried fingerprints and iris scans, and would have become compulsory in 2013. The plan was abandoned in 2010.

The Englishman continued, "Now, 20 years on, the same playbook is being used as a justification for broader powers to the establishment. Tony Blair is somewhere in his evil lair rubbing his hands and cackling; his career ambition is coming to fruition."

RELATED: YouTube admits to secretly manipulating videos with AI

Photo by Stuart Brock/Anadolu via Getty Images

The implementation of digital ID is straight from the playbook of the World Economic Forum, the yearly gathering of world elites where globalist policy is discussed and planned.

Seven years before the WEF broadcasted its report on reimagining digital ID and before its ideas became globally criticized, it published "A Blueprint for Digital Identity" in 2016.

The report boasted of the Aadhaar program, a government initiative from India that was implemented in order to "increase social and financial inclusion" for Indians. The Unique Identification Authority of India holds a database of user information "such as name, date of birth, and biometrics data that may include a photograph, fingerprint, iris scan, or other information."

Over 1 billion Indians have enrolled in the program for the 12-digit identity number, and it continues today.

As for England, "It is not a reasonable solution," Brackpool says. "It is the very thing many concerned British citizens and campaigners have been warning about for years down the line."

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North Carolina Elections Board Agrees To Prohibit Digital Voter IDs

North Carolina’s elections board confirmed it will not accept digital IDs as a valid form of voter identification in elections on Friday. During a video conference, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) read through details of its court settlement with the Republican National Committee and the state GOP over a lawsuit the latter […]

China's new digital ID system is for your own privacy and safety



China's state-run digital identification system will protect internet users from online companies, fraudsters, and criminals that wish to access their information. Instead, it will give it all to the government.

China has already implemented a "real-name registration" system for the better part of a decade that allows companies to know exactly who is shopping, playing video games, or commenting on their platforms.

Now, the communist government is looking to completely invert that system and is claiming it wants to give the power of privacy back to the citizen.

'Truly feel "security is within reach" while enjoying convenience.'

The National Online Identity Authentication app is to "protect the information security of citizens," the government says, and what better way to do that than hand over all of one's data to the CCP in one convenient place.

In order to apply for the unique internet identification number — essentially a username made up of letters and numbers — Chinese nationals will need to provide a trove of documents.

According to the Library of Congress, this includes resident ID cards, passport (if residing overseas), travel passes, and/or permanent resident ID cards for foreigners. The Washington Post reported that registration also includes a face scan.

In exchange, the users will get their own login credentials and a "network identity authentication certificate that carries the network number and non-clear-text identity information of a natural person."

Chinese companies will be forced to comply too.

RELATED: Chinese nationals on student visas allegedly ripped off elderly Americans in nasty scheme

The Chinese government explained that while the new online ID remains voluntary, any internet service provider or website may not request real user information (unless required by law) from those using the government-issued credentials.

Service providers must also ensure that users who use the authentication method have the same level of access to services as those who use their real names.

Therefore, when shopping online or visiting social media sites, companies will simply see a digital ID, making the user effectively anonymous to the online world, except for government assets.

China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, described the new program as a "protective shield" that allows the masses to "truly feel 'security is within reach' while enjoying convenience."

The Cyberspace Administration of China added that the ID system helps to "support the healthy and orderly development of the digital economy."

RELATED: China's 35 million incels face bleak future of state-run AI 'romance' — are American men next?

Photo by Cheng Xin/Getty Images

China's "Great Firewall" already filters internet traffic coming into the country while simultaneously blocking certain content — such as Western social media sites, for example — from its populace.

According to Newsweek, a 2017 cybersecurity law required Chinese internet users to use their real names in order to access certain digital services, like e-commerce sites and video sharing platforms.

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