Category: Julie Inman Grant

March 5, 2025

Tech companies’ proposed new safety codes won’t protect all kids online

In July last year, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant directed tech companies to develop codes of practice to keep children safe from online porn and harmful content. Now, after seven months, the industry has submitted draft codes to eSafety for approval. eSafety is currently assessing the draft codes. Assuming Ms Inman Grant approves the…

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October 31, 2024

Online safety review lands on Rowland’s desk

An independent review of Australia’s online safety laws containing more than 60 recommendations for change has been handed to Communications minister Michelle Rowland. Former competition watchdog deputy chair Delia Rickard delivered her final report to Ms Rowland this week, capping off an almost year-long statutory review of the Online Safety Act. The federal government, which…

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October 24, 2024

Apple launches eSafety feature ahead of regulation

Apple has deployed a new safety feature that enables Australian children to flag unwanted nude images directly with the tech giant for referral to the police, pre-empting requirements of proposed online safety codes recently released for consultation. On Thursday, the California-based company rolled out a Beta version of its latest iPhone software update, which includes…

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October 22, 2024

Adult content codes zero-in on search and social media

Search engines and social media giants would be expected to filter, blur and block online pornography and other age-inappropriate by default for children under the latest set of online safety codes. The draft codes, released for public consultation on Tuesday, have been developed by local tech industry groups like DIGI and the Comms Alliance over…

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October 17, 2024

‘Secretive and dishonest’ platforms cop a Senate spray

Digital platform giants claim they would become the “sole arbiters of truth online” if the Albanese government’s misinformation laws pass but are facing strong push back from lawmakers for ducking user safety and accountability. Industry group Digi, which counts US giants like Meta, X and Google as members, on Thursday said the balance between online…

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October 16, 2024

Steep fines, mandatory safety rules needed to rein in tech giants

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant wants steep fines and mandatory safety by design rules to come from the Albanese government’s review of online safety laws, but says “recalcitrant players” will remain a challenge. The review is about to land on Communications minister Michelle Rowland’s desk after being brought forward by the government to address a…

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October 4, 2024

eSafety takes win against X as legal battle continues

X has lost its case to invalidate a $610,500 penalty issued by the eSafety Commissioner for inadequately reporting on efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse material last year. The social media giant argued it was not required to comply with the transparency reporting notice because it was issued to its predecessor Twitter Inc, a…

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August 22, 2024

A Bretton Woods for content takedowns? eSafety thinks so

A Bretton Woods-like system for overseeing the takedown of harmful digital online content could fill the gap if the United States fails to crack down on the social media giants. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who has struggled to get Elon Musk’s X to pay fines after it closed its Australian office, raised the model…

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August 19, 2024

Nina Jankowicz: AI’s new target is women in power

Misogynistic tactics, including deepfake pornography, are being weaponised in elections to discredit women in power and create discord, according to global disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz. “Over 10 per cent of content targeting eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is threatening,” she said in an interview with InnovationAus.com, highlighting the severe harassment that is faced by women…

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July 24, 2024

eSafety ups pressure on tech giants over child abuse content

Apple, Meta and other tech giants have been ordered to report the steps they are taking to address child sexual abuse material on their platforms twice a year, in an escalation of Australia’s online safety compliance regime. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant issued legal notices to eight companies on Wednesday, requiring them to report their…

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July 23, 2024

Online safety tsar wants ‘systemic power’ to tackle tech-enabled abuse

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is seeking expanded powers to stop the promotion of harmful apps online and ban users in what would be a significant step beyond its current content takedown schemes. Current Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has discussed the wider remit to fill “gaps” in industry rules with Delia Rickard, who is conducting a statutory…

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June 21, 2024

eSafety mandates file scanning technology, but offers flexibility

The eSafety Commissioner has not backed down from requiring platform tech and generative AI providers to scan and remove child sexual abuse and pro-terror material from their services with the release of two new mandatory standards, although some changes have been made since the draft in response to ongoing privacy and security concerns. The ‘relevant…

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June 10, 2024

Aussie fight and flight against the Big Tech flex

In comedy and politics, just as in business and innovation, timing is everything. This week, Australians were reminded of the truth of this enduring axiom. News Corporation Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller fronted the National Press Club in Canberra calling for the Australian government to reign-in the monopoly power of the Big Tech giants in…

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June 5, 2024

eSafety Commissioner ditches legal fight with X

The eSafety Commissioner has abandoned its Federal Court case against Elon Musk’s X, just days after two prominent US digital rights groups were approved to intervene in the matter. In a statement released on Wednesday, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant announced that the regulator would be discontinuing its Federal Court action attempting to force X…

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May 30, 2024

Age verification trial tests to be outsourced

A trial of age verification technologies will be managed by the Department of Communications, but technical effectiveness tests will be done by a third-party expert selected through a competitive process. During Senate Estimates on Thursday, Communications officials confirmed that effectiveness assessments for the $6.5 million trial of age assurance technology would be undertaken by an…

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May 8, 2024

Experts warn on ‘minefield’ age assurance trial

Digital rights, tech and criminology experts have cast doubt on the federal government’s plan to trial age assurance technology to stop kids accessing online pornography, with warnings that politicking and ideology are undermining evidence-based policy. The trial has bipartisan support and the backing of the online safety regulator, which have positioned age assurance technology as…

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May 1, 2024

Online age verification pilot gets green light

A trial of age assurance technology will be conducted in Australia to shield children from online pornography and other adult content in response to the sharp rise in the number of women killed by a current or former partner. The federal government will also introduce new legislation to ban the creation and distribution of non-consensual…

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April 23, 2024

Global take-down orders can harm the internet if widely adopted

Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer ‘yes’ to this question should perhaps also ask themselves whether they are equally happy for courts in China, Russia and Iran to determine what Australians can see and post online in Australia….

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March 19, 2024

Tech giants on notice over extremist content amid wait for new powers

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has issued mandatory transparency notices to six of the biggest digital platforms, compelling them to share details about how they mitigate access to terror and violent extremist material. The action has been taken as the Office of the eSafety Commissioner awaits amendments to the Basic Online Safety Expectations (BOSE) requiring annual transparency…

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March 12, 2024

Search engines on notice as last online safety code arrives

Search engines like Google and Bing will face penalties or injunctions for failing to take action against access to illegal and harmful content from Tuesday with the arrival of the sixth online safety industry code. The search engine service code is the last of six industry-developed codes outlining appropriate steps that technology providers should undertake…

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January 11, 2024

X gutting safety staff creates ‘perfect storm’ for online hate

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has gutted its safety and public policy personnel and reinstated thousands of banned accounts since billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover, creating a “perfect storm” for online hate speech. The cuts to safety staff were confirmed by the company for the first time in disclosures to Australia’s online…

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November 20, 2023

Online regulator pushing for proactive content scanning

The eSafety Commissioner revealed plans to enforce proactive scanning of online messaging, cloud storage, and other internet-based services for child sexual abuse material and pro-terror material, with the release of two draft standards for consultation on Monday. The failure to commit to using technologies that detect and remove the child sexual abuse material and pro-terror…

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October 16, 2023

Twitter fined, Google warned over eSafety reporting

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has fined X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, more than $600,000 for failing to answer questions on the steps it is taking to tackle child sexual exploitation material. The $610,500 fine is the first to be issued under the Online Safety Act, which introduced new requirements in 2022 to…

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June 22, 2023

eSafety issues Twitter with legal notice after surge in cyber abuse

Twitter has been ordered to detail efforts to prevent online hate on its social media platform in Australia or face fines after a surge in cyber abuse complaints to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. The social media giant was issued with a legal notice on Wednesday, with civil penalties of nearly $700,000-a-day available to…

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March 28, 2023

Online safety codes hang on ‘red line’ issues

Australia’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant will take delivery on Friday of the final drafts of the online safety codes that have been under development by local tech industry associations. But it is far from clear whether the re-written drafts will be accepted by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. Ms Inman Grant met with…

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March 27, 2023

eSafety Commissioner set for funding boost

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner will likely receive additional funding in the Albanese government’s May Budget, with Labor ministers continuing to criticise the former Coalition government for not providing ongoing funding. Total administered expenses for the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is budgeted to fall from $51.1 million in financial year 2022-23 to just…

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March 10, 2023

Industry makes last attempt at online safety codes

Online safety codes developed by the industry but rejected by the regulator have been redrafted and released for public consultation. It is the final chance for the industry to write its own rules for the Australian-first codes, with the regulator threatening to develop its own if significant changes aren’t made. Clearer definitions of key terms…

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February 23, 2023

Industry releases draft online safety codes, reveals eSafety concerns

Draft online safety codes rejected by the eSafety Commissioner earlier this month have been publicly released by Australia’s tech sector after concerns over the lack of transparency in the industry-led process. The draft codes were published by the industry associations representing companies that provide platform services, including global giants like Google and Meta, on Thursday….

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February 12, 2023

Online safety tsar rejects draft industry codes as inadequate

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has rejected proposed industry codes put forward by associations representing the online industry, sending the draft codes back to industry demanding that they address areas of residual concern. The industry associations, which represent companies that provide platform services from the global giants like Google and Meta to small online game providers, to…

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November 14, 2022

‘Deeply concerning’: Almost no-one knows where to report online harm

Nearly half of all Australian adults and children experience online harm, but barely any are reporting it to the organisation set up by the government to deal with it, according to “deeply disturbing” survey data released on Sunday. It revealed almost 40 per cent of adults experienced online harm in the last 12 months. This…

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