Communications Minister Anika Wells has confirmed that five investigations are underway into potential breaches of Australia’s under-16 social media ban.
This comes as the government moves to double the maximum penalties for social media companies to $109 million under new digital duty-of-care reforms.
During an interview with Sunrise, Wells said no tech companies have been fined so far.
“They haven’t. The eSafety Commissioner has five investigations underway as we speak,” she said.
At the same time, Wells said both the commissioner and Australian parents needed stronger laws to be passed weeks ago so the regulator could more effectively impose penalties on big tech.
“They need the Coalition and the Greens to stop dawdling on this and they need to give the eSafety Commissioner more powers so that she has a stronger ability to go to the Federal Court and fine big tech, who are taking the mickey,” she added.
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Labor Announces Duty of Care Legislation
The Labor government has also released draft Digital Duty of Care legislation for consultation, with the legislation to be introduced to Parliament later this year.
The plan would require online platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harms and give users the choice to opt out of algorithmic feeds so they see only content from accounts they follow.
“Tech companies have been running real time, unregulated product testing on Australians, and their platforms and tools have infiltrated our daily lives in ways that we could never have imagined,” Wells told reporters on Sep. 8.
The minister also rejected claims that the changes amount to censorship, saying tech companies should face the same basic safety standards as other industries.
“We want Australians to make that choice. And we want big tech to identify the risks that are on their platforms and mitigate against those risks the same way that every other industry in Australia has to, whether it’s toys, whether it’s food,” she said.
“There are basic safety standards that we expect of every industry selling things to Australians and big tech should be the same.”
Wells’s comments were echoed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“[This legislation] will require social media platforms to provide user empowerment tools that give people over the age of 16 genuine and enduring choice about what they see in their feeds,” he said on Sept. 9.
“We’ll provide e-safety with the power to issue removal notices for Nudify apps, all websites, and streamline the child’s cyber bullying and adult cyber abuse schemes, and will require digital platforms to document the measures taken to address harm to Australian users, and ensure measures remain effective over time.”
Censorship Concerns from Opposition
However, Nationals Leader Matt Canavan expressed doubts about Labor’s proposal in an interview on Sep. 8.
“I’m deeply sceptical of giving any government, whether I was in charge, or Anika Wells is in charge, the power to decide what you read on your phone,” he told News24.
“I think we’ve got a free and open society, and the problem with giving governments that kind of power … is they just can’t be trusted with it.”
Meanwhile, Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson accused the government of seeking to censor platforms.
“The problem we’ve got is the government is now actively seeking to censor, and has been active in attempting to censor any view they don’t like,” he told reporters on Sep. 8 in Canberra.
“What we need is laws that protect Australia’s national identity, our security, because that’s the umbrella in which all our rights and freedoms are anchored behind.”
