International Justice Mission calls for huge fines for big tech if they fail to remove child abuse content

Australia is being urged to hit big tech companies with multimillion-dollar fines if they fail to stop the spread of child sex abuse material online.

Australia is being urged to hit big tech companies with multimillion-dollar fines if they fail to stop the spread of child sex abuse material online, as experts deem current child safety laws woefully ­inadequate.

Mandating phones and laptops be built to include technology that can prevent users viewing, sharing or creating abuse material, and imposing a “duty of care” on platforms to protect children are among the changes recommended by the International Justice Mission (IJM).

On behalf of survivors of online child sexual abuse, the organisation called on the Albanese government to strengthen requirements for big tech companies to prevent and quickly intervene to remove exploitation material.

International Justice Mission says Australia’s laws governing the spread of child sex abuse material online are woefully inadequate. Picture: iStock

In a submission to the ­Online Safety Act review, the IJM called for camera-enabled devices such as phones and laptops to be built with ­technology that prevented the production, display, distribution, uploading and storage of child abuse material.

The maximum fine for breaches of current online safety laws is $782,500, which IJM warned was “low” compared to other jurisdictions, including in the UK and the European Union.

“Where the fines are lower than the cost of implementing meaningful safety measures to address the breach, there is little incentive for platforms to change and improve safety standards,” the IJM submission said.

IJM also called for the nation’s online safety laws to take into consideration “non-users” who can be harmed by tech platforms.

“In some of the worst forms of online child sexual abuse — such as livestreamed child sexual abuse — children who are non-users undergo severe harm,” the submission said.

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as International Justice Mission calls for huge fines for big tech if they fail to remove child abuse content