The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act recently went into force, and changes are already being felt across digital platforms. Microsoft has announced that it will also be implementing new systems on Xbox to comply, specifically rolling out age verification for users in Britain that will eventually restrict social features for people under 18 years old.
In a blog post on Xbox Wire, the tech giant announced that it is rolling out new age verification systems in the UK this week. Beginning in 2026, Xbox will restrict social features for non-verified users to just friends; verified adults will retain the ability to interact with anyone on the platform. Microsoft assured users that no other features (such as buying and playing games) will be restricted based on age verification status.
Much like other social platforms like Reddit and Discord, Microsoft will also allow users to verify their age through a variety of different means. These include more conventional methods like uploading a government ID and a credit card check, as well as more technologically involved methods like age estimation.
The Online Safety Act, which has been pitched by policymakers as focused on protecting children from online harms, has provisions in it that require platforms to verify the age of their users if the platforms allow sexually explicit or pornographic material. This has had the effect of motivating many social media platforms to preemptively comply, as the law considers user-generated content and forum posts as potentially harmful to minors.
The rapid adoption of facial recognition technology for age estimation has sparked some creative workarounds. Last week, reports found that gamers were using Death Stranding 2’s detailed face models to bypass the age estimation checks. As more of these machine learning-powered age checks roll out, it’s likely that we’ll see more attempts to evade the provisions of the law.
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