As part of its efforts to combat violence against women, the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced funding to test age/ID verification methods for pornography websites in a pilot program. This move came after Albanese and
the national cabinet ruled in 2023 that mandatory age verification was not yet an option. AUS $6.5 million has been allocated for a pilot of age assurance to test the technology's effectiveness. The pilot will identify available age assurance products
and assess their efficacy, including in relation to privacy and security. The outcomes of this pilot will support the eSafety Commissioners' ongoing implementation of censorship rules under the Online Safety Act. Australia's prime minister has also
moved to ban deepfake and artificial intelligence pornography as part of a $925million bid to counter a rise in violence against women. Sharing sexually explicit material using artificial intelligence will also be subject to serious criminal
penalties. Albanese noted community concerns about toxic male views online and young men's exposure to violent imagery on the internet. Offsite Comment: The Australian Government Is Making Porn a Scapegoat
for Rising Violence Against Women 5th May 2024. Thanks to Trog. See article from vice.com by Darcy Deviant
Here is an artlcie offering a very sensible counter argument to the usual porn is bad diatribes: As a sex worker, the most concerning part of this conversation is the use of the sex industry as a political scapegoat
for men's violence. Let's be clear: the porn industry was never created to provide sex education to children. But let's also be honest: if your child is actively seeking out pornography, or so-called violent pornography, perhaps
there's a gap in their learning about sex and sexuality that the education system or a guardian has failed to fill.
See
article from vice.com | 
