The Global Online Safety Regulators Network (GOSRN) has published a Position Statement setting out its expectations regarding the use of age assurance measures to protect children online.

We have commented previously on the work of GOSRN here. Founded in November 2022, it comprises a number of regulators (including Ofcom) whose remit is to oversee online safety, together with ‘observer’ organisations that work on matters of online safety and collaborate with independent regulators. Its stated mission is to “develop regulatory coherence across jurisdictions and to promote compliance with rights – respecting online safety regulation by leveraging [its] role as the only global network of and for independent online safety regulators”.

GOSRN published its three-year strategy at the end of 2024, in which it set out its intention to build regulatory coherence across jurisdictions and facilitate information-sharing and coordination.

Its most recent Position Statement explains how it intends to pursue these goals in the specific area of age assurance. It is an area of particular concern given that, despite many regulators – including Ofcom – implementing age assurance requirements for online service providers, there have been numerous examples of non-compliance, as well as attempts to circumvent such measures.

Against this backdrop, the Statement considers how age assurance measures can be both effective and trustworthy. GOSRN declares its commitment to a “principles-based, evidence-based approach” to age assurance which ensures that measures are accurate, robust, reliable, proportionate, fair and inclusive, and non-intrusive. It also calls for age assurance measures to be “implemented with attention to accessibility and interoperability”, to comply with applicable data protection and privacy laws, and – importantly – for rules requiring age assurance to be properly enforced.

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