Australia registers codes to restrict AI chatbot and nudify app access by children
Australia's eSafety Commissioner has registered new industry codes requiring AI chatbot providers and nudify app developers to restrict access by children under 18, citing evidence that children aged 10-11 were spending hours daily on sexualised chatbots and that students were using deepfake apps to create naked images of classmates.
What happened
Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant registered six new codes under the Online Safety Act in September 2025 to restrict children's access to AI chatbots and nudify services.
The commissioner reported that approximately 100,000 Australians per month use nudify apps that allow users to upload images of others, including school students, to generate deepfake depictions of them naked. Schools reported that children aged 10 and 11 were spending up to six hours per day using AI companion chatbots programmed to engage in sexual content and discuss suicidal ideation, self-harm, and disordered eating.
Reported impact
Children aged 10 and 11 were reportedly spending several hours daily with sexualised chatbots designed to instruct them in and engage in specific sexual acts. School students were using nudify apps to create deepfakes of their classmates.
Index analysis
The eSafety Commissioner stated that the chatbots are engineered to be deliberately addictive by design and simulate human-like interactions through adaptive learning and personalised responses. The commissioner criticised major technology companies for not doing enough to prevent the sharing of child exploitation images and said none had apologised for enabling such harmful content.
Governance controls
The six registered codes require tech companies including those behind AI chatbots, social media platforms, app stores and technology manufacturers to embed safeguards and implement age assurance measures before deploying AI chatbots to children. The new codes represent the first comprehensive law in the world to require such protections for minors against AI chatbot harms.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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