X now requiring age verification to see NSFW posts in Australia

Australians are facing problems with age verification on X. There’s a pop-up every time they open sensitive content, despite the age already being verified. X already holds their date of birth from earlier age checks, yet it demands proof again. Users report frustration over having to verify their age multiple times for no good reason.

Hilariously enough, just opening the media tab of the account instead of directly opening the post ends up showing the entire post.

The eSafety Commissioner introduced some new age-restricted material codes in Australia, and platforms must prove that users are adults before they see NSFW material. These were enforced this week, and X seems to have decided to comply in order to avoid massive fines from the government.

Many people were already required to verify their age a few months ago, during the under-16 social media ban. Despite this, people still see the pop-up, and some unlucky users enter loops of selfie checks. The app asks them to restart and repeat the process, and this is a glitch. It affects both the X web app and the mobile app for Australian accounts.

The prompt is automatically triggered whenever a post is labelled as sensitive content on X, and while it’s partly necessary to protect minors on the platform, some argue it’s unnecessary government overreach. People are trying workarounds such as using VPNs to circumvent the new age verification pop-ups.

While some NSFW websites have decided to block Australian traffic in protest, X has decided to comply instead. Complaints about this problem gained heavy traction recently, with multiple matching reports. People are tagging Elon Musk and sharing screenshots of the same prompt. There’s no response from X yet about these issues, and there’s no official fix either.

Bans, crackdowns, and age-verification issues seem to be common trends in 2026. We’ve seen countries such as India block NSFW content on X entirely, and platforms such as Discord have had plenty of issues with implementing age verification.

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