Treasurer Jim Chalmers backs Australian parents as US big tech targets online laws

An Aussie father whose son took his life because of social media has lashed out at Meta, Google, Amazon and X as they pressure Donald Trump to punish Australia over its online protection laws.

A new campaign by US tech giants to dismantle Australia’s regulation of digital platforms has been slammed by politicians and parents of children who have taken their own lives because of social media.

The tech companies, emboldened by Donald Trump’s “America First’ mantra, hope he will back their calls to unwind a sleight of new regulations from the Albanese government designed to protect children.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Albanese government’s job was to stand up for Australia’s “national interests”, as well as back parents and “make sure that there are appropriate protections for people online”.

“The tech giants won’t always like that. They won’t always agree with that,” Mr Chalmers told Sky News.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Albanese government’s job is to stand up for Australia’s national interests. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Following News Corp’s Let Them Be Kids campaign, the Government passed legislation to raise the age of when children can access social media to 16. It’s due to come into force this year.

At the time social media companies argued against the move.

Wayne Holdsworth whose son suicided after falling victim to a sextortion plot online slammed the US tech giants for targeting Australia’s laws. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Parents like Wayne Holdsworth, whose son Mac took his life aged 17, after falling prey to a sextortion plot on Instagram, lobbied hard for the new law and was angry at the possibility it could be under threat.

“This is typical of the tech companies’ arrogance and disrespect for Australian children,” Mr Holdsworth said on Friday, which would have been his son’s 19th birthday.

“Today I went to the cemetery to see my son and laid his favourite yellow roses next to his plaque.

“The tech companies are responsible for allowing children to be terrorised online. If the Australian Government succumbs to this pressure they are weak.”

Wayne Holdsworth and his daughter Daisy, 15, want Australia’s online laws to protect future social media users. Picture: Jason Edwards

Wayne Holdsworth’s son Mac was 17 years old when he died by suicide.

In their submission to America’s Office of the United States Trade Representative, tech companies including Meta, Alphabet, Apple and X cited Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code - introduced to fairly remunerate Australian news businesses for news content - and AI regulation, as examples of “unfair trade practices”.

“It’s self-evident that they are very close with the US administration,” Mr Chalmers added.

“Our focus and our job is to make our case in the US, as we have been doing, but to also make sure we continue to make the best decisions that we can for Australia.

“I think a lot of people around the country, not just parents but including parents, they want to make sure there are appropriate protections for people online.

“The tech giants won’t always like that, won’t always agree with that, but we’ve got to do that job on behalf of the people of Australia and there will be different views about how we go about that as we roll it out.”

Mr Chalmers says the Albanese government will back Aussie parents. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the Government would always “stand up for the interests of Australians and Australia, including supporting a diverse and sustainable news ecosystem”.

Other countries, like the UK, are trying to get better protections against tech companies.

Last month the UK media launched a campaign called Make it Fair calling out big tech for scraping the work of artists, journalists, authors, illustrators, photographers, film-makers, scriptwriters, singers and songwriters.

The campaign was launched to raise awareness among the public about the threat posed to the creative industries from generative AI models, many of which scrape creative content from the internet without permission, acknowledgment, and critically, without payment.

Ed Newton- Rex, founder of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies that respect creators’ rights, said without tougher regulations the life’s work of the UK’s talented creators - its musicians, its writers, its artists - will be handed to AI companies, for free.

Tech owners like Mark Zuckerberg, who was at Donald Trump’s inauguration, and Elon Musk, a main player in the new administration, will be hoping their influence with the President could help their cause, especially with the ongoing threat of tariffs.

This week US drug giants put pressure on the Trump administration to slap tariffs on Australia because they believe the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme hampers their profits.

There are also growing concerns in Canberra over agricultural exports, with Trump already issuing steel and aluminium tariffs on Australia.

Originally published as Treasurer Jim Chalmers backs Australian parents as US big tech targets online laws