eSafety boss ready for big tech lawsuits over social media ban
Australia’s online safety chief has warned tech giants she's ready for legal battles as she unveils guidelines for keeping under-16s off social media platforms.
Australia’s online safety chief is prepared to stare down any lawsuits that arise from the world-leading social media ban for under 16s.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has given tech platforms a set of reasonable steps they must take to keep children off social media when the ban comes into effect on December 10, and told them a blanket approach to age verification would be unreasonable.
Ms Inman Grant said although the social media giants had now been handed clear instructions about how to abide by the law, she expected some bumps along the way.
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“We do not expect every under 16 account is magically going to disappear on December 10. What we will be looking at is systemic failures to apply that technology policy and processes they need to do … the first order of action really is to tackle those that are on their platforms now,” she said.
Social media companies who fail to comply with the guidelines – which include detecting and deactivating existing accounts and preventing re-creation – face fines of up to $50m, but Ms Inman Grant said that would only come about after a series of warnings.
“There are, of course, certain companies willing to engage or more likely to move to judicial review or a lawsuit. We need to be prepared for that as well,” she said.
“But in most cases, these companies want to operate in Australia and they respect Australian law.”
Before the government confirmed YouTube would be included in the ban, parent company Google had threatened to sue on constitutional grounds.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said by the time the laws come into effect, the tech companies would have had 12 months to get their platforms ready.
“They have no excuse not to be ready … age assurance technology is used increasingly and increasingly prolifically among social media platforms for other purposes, predominantly commercial purpose to protect their own interest. There is no excuse for them not to use that same technology to protect Australian kids online,” she said.
Tech companies won’t be required to use any specific method or technology, but Ms Inman Grant said she expected facial age estimation to become more normalised over the coming years.
Platforms won’t be able to rely on self-declaration or compel people to hand over government IDs, and have been told it would be “unreasonable” to force all Australian users to verify their age.
Ms Inman Grant will meet with social media giants and AI firms in California next week, while Ms Wells joins Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in New York to urge global leaders to follow Australia’s lead.
