Social media penalties set to double to $109 million
Australians online users of all ages will be protected from harmful content under a proposed new law to push the onus onto tech giants to reduce risks.
Communications Minister Anika Wells is expected to unveil Labor’s draft Digital Duty of Care on Tuesday — which will cover social media, search engines, AI chat bots, dating apps, gaming and messaging platforms, and pornography sites among other online services.
The shift of responsibility to platforms is expected to force tech giants to take down harmful content, conduct regular safety audits, and be transparent about data collection and algorithms.
The draft has been long-awaited after it was first recommended in 2024 by a review of Australia’s Online Safety Act under former communications minister Michelle Rowland.
According to a paper detailing the government’s approach following public consultation in May, the duty of care would apply to any service currently listed within the scope of the Online Safety Act.
This includes services like app stores, telcos, and tech giants such as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft that produce and operate personal devices — like phones, tablets, and wearable devices.
But the paper suggested that Ms Wells would be given the new powers under the legislation to determine which services will have to comply and which risks it will target.
Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume on Monday said while she would await the final draft the Coalition had a “natural suspicion” if the minister was seeking new powers to “control the internet”.
“We don’t feel that the minister should have the powers to determine what is and is not online harm,” Senator Hume said.
Greens Communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the party would wait for further details but insisted that users should have the ultimate say on the content they want to see on their feeds.
The expected release of the draft legislation comes amid renewed debate over whether users should be able to switch off algorithms on their social media feeds.
Consent advocate Chanel Contos spoke about her “Fix our feeds” campaign during a National Press Club address last week, accusing tech firms of feeding misogynistic content to young men online.
Senator Hanson-Young acknowledged that the duty of care was supposed to go beyond social media but insisted anything other than an opt-in function for algorithms rather than opt out would equate to a failed effort by Labor.
“Big tech are always going to take as much as they possibly can. Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile,” she said.
“Big tech will always try to manipulate users’ information, data, and settings.
“Without a genuine opt-in that puts the user in control right from the beginning — Anything less than that will be a failure.”
Senator Hanson-Young added that Australia wouldn’t be world leading in the duty of care, which several other nations enacting or proposing similar online safety laws, such as the United Kingdom, European Union, and Malaysia.
Ms Wells has also urged the Senate to pass a separate bill designed to strengthen the existing the social media restrictions on under-16s which started on December 10 last year.
New laws to bolster the ban would hike fines for tech giants not complying with the restrictions and beef up the powers of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to go after them.
The changes proposed in June had, however, been pushed to a Senate inquiry over the winter recess. Ms Wells had claimed it was a deliberate delay of more than eight weeks which only gave tech giants more time to shred documents.
“The best time to listen to Australian parents and pass the bill would have been two months ago, but the second best time is this week,” Ms Wells said on Monday.
“The Coalition and the Greens political party must now put politics aside, put parents before platforms, and pass this urgent bill by the end of this week.”
In an opinion piece penned on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke about his decision to enact the social media ban — which had initially been an idea by former Liberal leader Peter Dutton.
Mr Albanese urged his parliamentary colleagues to pass the new legislation “to double down on our efforts to protect Australian children from the harms of social media”.
He also described the release of the duty of care draft bill as “the next steps to make interactions with the internet safer for all Australians”.
“This landmark reform will put the onus on services providers to take reasonable steps to create a safe online environment for all Australians.
“We are also looking at what action we can take on harmful algorithms.
“People should have control of what they consume, and tech companies have a responsibility for what they platform on their services.
“This is not about giving government control. It’s about giving people control.”
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