STATEMENT ON fediverse.au's COMPLIANCE WITH AGE-RESTRICTED SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATORY ADVICE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN e-SAFETY COMMISSIONER
Per this advice:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions
I have performed a self-assessment of the fediverse.au instance of Mastodon, for which I am the Administrator, and determined that the platform IS an age-restricted social media platform.
The steps taken (by me) on this platform to ensure that all users are above age 16 are:
馃憠 Sign-ups to the platform are open with manual review. That means EVERY sign-up is reviewed by me personally before the account is enabled on the platform.
馃憠 I do a cross-check of the email address to ensure it is valid, and linked to a staff member at a research or academic institution or to an organisational area specifically.
馃憠 Where the email address does not meet the criteria for this instance, the sign-up is rejected.
馃憠 Content on this platform is actively moderated, but given the a) small user base and b) that each person is representing their organisation, I have not had to moderate any content as yet.
馃憠 Upon approval, each registered user receives an email further outlining the rules for the instance. As yet, I have not had to take any enforcement action.
This work is taken on a voluntary basis, and accounts on this instance are not charged for.