Online watchdog gets tough on eSafety codes

Australia’s online watchdog has rejected plans put forward by the industry to make online messaging services, dating apps and multiplayer games safer, saying the proposed rules don’t go far enough.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant was handed powers by the last government to regulate much of the internet via industry codes that force technology giants to combat child abuse and other illegal material online.

Inman Grant approved draft codes for six areas of the internet, including social media and web hosting, last week. But she knocked back two, with one for file storage apps such as iCloud and Dropbox rejected along with one for messaging platforms on the basis that they did not do enough to require scanning for illegal photos and videos.

“We’re talking about the worst-of-the-worst online content here, often illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and pro-terror content,” Inman Grant said.

“ESafety, and indeed the wider community, expect that these companies should take reasonable steps to prevent their services from being used to store and distribute this horrendous content.”

There is a tension at the heart of the process between individual users’ right to privacy, technical demands on the internet giants, the encryption of some apps and efforts to fight the scourge of online abuse. Inman Grant’s office will now develop those codes itself.

A coalition of industry bodies operating under the banner of Onlinesafety.org.au that worked on the codes through two rounds of public consultation said they were pleased that a majority had been accepted, protecting Australians online.

“We will continue to collaborate closely with the eSafety Commissioner on the next steps of the process for all of the codes,” a spokeswoman for the group said.

A third code, dealing with search engines, was pushed back by four weeks because of how quickly companies such as Google and Microsoft are adding artificial intelligence to their products.