{"id":886266,"date":"2026-09-10T00:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886266\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T00:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:12:10","slug":"australia-shifts-online-safety-debate-from-age-checks-to-platform-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886266\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia shifts online safety debate from age checks to platform accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first country to put age checks on social media sites<\/a> is now the first to propose a digital duty of care. Draft legislation circulated by the government would force social platforms to allow users to turn off algorithm-driven content, and put legal obligations on the companies running them to protect users, especially children, from specific harms.<\/p>\n

Put simply, a digital duty of care<\/a> makes it the law that platforms must take care not to hurt their users.<\/p>\n

Headlining the legislation, the \u201cMy Feed, My Way\u201d initiative would require platforms to send a notification to new users, asking if they want their default feed to remove content recommended algorithmically and show only content from accounts they follow. (Older social media users may remember this as \u201cthe original model.\u201d)<\/p>\n

In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the measure \u201cwill give Australians greater choice over their platforms and what they see.\u201d<\/p>\n

No potentially lethal stunts, no online bullying, big fines<\/p>\n

The digital duty of care would also require services including online games, apps and AI chatbots to protect children from harms associated with pornography; content that \u201cpromotes, encourages or accelerates\u201d eating disorders; misogynistic content; content that glorifies crime or dangerous stunts; and any \u201ccontent that causes serious mental health distress, including abuse and bullying.\u201d<\/p>\n

All users must be protected from illegal content, such as that relating to child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse, grooming, promoting or inciting sexual violence, acts of terrorism, encouraging criminal offences, illicit drug use and \u201cabhorrent violent conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s eSafety commissioner will handle enforcement, with powers including the ability to issue removal notices, specifically to websites or apps that perform \u201cnudification.\u201d\u00a0 Per the government\u2019s release, failure to comply with the Duty of Care could attract penalties of up to $109.2 million (US$78.8 million).<\/p>\n

A report in The Conversation notes<\/a> that the draft bill also gives \u201capproved\u201d academic researchers access to digital service providers\u2019 data for the purposes of conducting online safety research.<\/p>\n

Communications Minister Anika Wells says the move is part of \u201ca global reckoning coming for big tech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we have basic safety standards for cars, toys or food, the duty of care applies basic standards for the online products we use every day,\u201d she says. \u201cThe digital duty of care will ensure online service providers \u2013 including some of the most powerful companies in the world \u2013 step up and do more to keep Australians safe from harm on their platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal obligations only work when companies follow laws<\/p>\n

As debates over how to make the internet safer for kids continue to rage globally, Australia is once again at the forefront of a potential strategic shift<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For many digital rights and privacy campaigners, the main problem with biometric age checks<\/a> is that they put the onus on the user to prove they\u2019re old enough to access potentially harmful content \u2013 when the onus should be on the platforms not to harm users.<\/p>\n

As The Conversation\u2019s argument puts it, \u201ctechnologies evolve quickly, raising known and potential future harms for people of all ages. Technology companies must be required \u2013 by law \u2013 to have a duty of care for all users. This is the only way to ensure we can benefit from online services while being protected from the harms they can present.\u201d<\/p>\n

This way of thinking has now evolved into concrete legislative efforts in Australia.<\/p>\n

However, a digital duty of care \u2013 especially if it is framed as a potential replacement for age assurance technology \u2013 must proceed realistically, and recognize that the largest social media companies have a habit of ignoring the law.<\/p>\n

The argument that says age assurance doesn\u2019t work because a majority of Australian kids still have access to social media ignores how noncompliance is feeding this so-called failure. Data has shown<\/a> that many users still encounter self-declaration prompts, which do not qualify as effective age assurance.<\/p>\n

As such, although the structure and target of the law is changing, enforcement remains the key to reining in companies that operate as though they are beyond governance.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tArticle Topics<\/p>\n

age verification<\/a> \u00a0|\u00a0 Australia<\/a> \u00a0|\u00a0 Australia age verification<\/a> \u00a0|\u00a0 legislation<\/a> \u00a0|\u00a0 regulation<\/a> \u00a0|\u00a0 social media<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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