Parliament’s staunchest advocate for social media reform has thrown down the gauntlet to big tech and the
Federal Government, alongside a group of Coalition MPs and Senators who have offered 13 recommendations
to the Australian Government to keep kids safe online and to hold big tech to account.
Andrew Wallace, who serves as the Deputy Chair of Parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee,
yesterday tabled what he described as an ‘Alternative Report’ in response to another missed opportunity by
Labor, as the historic Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society concluded its landmark
inquiry.
Drawing from months of harrowing testimony, including personal accounts from eating disorder survivors
and parents of child suicide victims, Mr Wallace, the member for Flinders Zoe McKenzie and their Coalition
counterparts formulated 13 additional recommendations which go to the heart of the public, child and online
safety issues which social media platforms continue to exacerbate.
The Sunshine Coast MP warned that social media companies could not be trusted to regulate themselves, and
that, like big tobacco, it was time for the Albanese Labor Government to demonstrate the strong leadership and
bold thinking to protect Australian families and their businesses.
“Social media has become a playground for predators and cyberbullies, organised crime gangs and
rapacious big tech companies, who benefit from the harm and exploitation of children and the most vulnerable
Australians,” Mr Wallace said.
“When confronted with the evidence of their failure to act, these companies refused to acknowledge their
negligence and even complicity. Social media platforms have proven themselves arrogant, exploitative and
wildly out of touch and the Australian people have had a gutful,” Mr Wallace continued, “These platforms
aren’t just wilfully ignorant. They’re deluded. And the time has come for social media companies to do the right
thing – or pay a heavy price.”
In her testimony on 21 June 2024, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant called out big tech companies,
saying, “If you can target people through advertising with deadly precision, you can certainly target online hate
or child sexual exploitation material. They say, if there’s a will, there’s a way. Well, there’s a way; we need to see
more of the will.”
Mr Wallace called out the Albanese Labor Government for their delay in legislating for age verification, despite
expert advice, public demand, and the Coalition’s early tabling of legislation to get it done. He asserted that age
verification, age limits, a legislated duty of care, and a children’s online privacy code should form part of a
multi-pronged approach to social media reform – but that more must be done.
“Our 13 additional recommendations tackle a range of issues – from child sexual exploitation to foreign
interference to screen addiction and mental health. They are future-focused recommendations to empower
parents, law enforcement, and the sector to protect Australian lives and livelihoods,” Mr Wallace said.
He warned: “But the reality is that this report will be out of date within a matter of years, if not months.
Technology is moving faster than our clumsy and careless Labor Government, and Australians are paying
the price.”
Summary of the Recommendations:
- Embed user controls to stop infinite scroll, autoplay, and to allow customised feeds, to reduce the persuasive and addictive nature of algorithms.
- Require social media platforms to report actual or suspected foreign interference, transnational crime, and transnational commercial activities to combat foreign interference and organised crime.
- Establish a Centre of Digital Educational Excellence to support thought leadership on technology, media and digital literacy.
- Require social media companies to provide any and all messages involving actual or suspected child sexual abuse material, regardless of whether end-to-end encryption is used.
- Oblige search engines and similar platforms to report annually as to how they’re combatting the dissemination and indexation of unlawful material.
- Hold social media companies liable for failing to remove and report link-in-bio tools and third party providers which facilitate access to unlawful or sexual material.
- Develop and implement a strategy to improve the online safety and wellbeing of boys, who are disproportionately affected by sexual exploitation and radicalisation.
- Resource and support the public research and development of technologies to counter child sexual exploitation and abuse material.
- Increase funding for the eSafety Commissioner and Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.
- Require social media companies to give regular transparency reports on data collected, how it’s stored, and how it’s used to feed algorithms and advertising systems.
- Mandate that social media companies provide detailed annual reports which how much money is made from advertising restricted and regulated industries including alcohol, gambling, pharmaceuticals, weight loss treatments, debt collection, pornography and more.
- Impose a statutory duty of care with requirements for diligent risk assessments and safety-by-design principles, with adequate penalties for enforcement.
- Establish a new parliamentary committee for online safety, artificial intelligence and technology to consider emerging threats and opportunities.
Find more information and read the report at:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Social_Media/SocialMedia/Secon
d_interim_report/Coalition_Members_dissenting_report
