Australia claims it is a global pioneer in preventing online harm – should other countries follow suit?

Australia claims it is a global pioneer in preventing online harm – should other countries follow suit?. Composite: AAPAustralia claims it is a global pioneer in preventing online harm – should other countries follow suit?

What happened

Determined to rein in the power of social media giants harming the lives of children, the Australian prime minister believes only a concerted effort by countries around the world will be enough to force change. And, as countries as diverse as France, Brazil and Indonesia follow suit, Albanese is taking the next step. Albanese believes he is helping spur “a global movement” for change, using public pressure, big fines and diplomacy to correct harm playing out online, as well as in the real world.

“We must move the burden of reporting online harm from the shoulders of victims and stop that harm at the source,” Wells says. Nicholls said the Albanese government could help other countries follow in its footsteps. “I think that the fast followers of the Australian lead will use the issues that have been found here to hone their legislative approaches. ”And Australia need not seek to lead in all facets of social media regulation globally.

“Australia is best served by sharing the lead with other middle powers, even if we thought of it first. ”Trethowan believes if the changes work, Australia will empower other countries to demand similar features from platforms.

The wider picture

“Australia’s set it up for other countries to take on similar things. ”Explore more on these topicsSocial mediaAnthony AlbaneseDigital mediaSocial media banfeaturesShareReuse this contentComments (…)Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussionMost viewedMost viewed Similarly, last month, Meta agreed to a US$18bn settlement with state governments across America to resolve claims that Facebook and Instagram harmed children. Meta will also implement a suite of changes to better protect children online, including default daily time limits and night-time blocks.

Labor sources describe the government’s online safety push as part of Albanese’s view of Australian leadership in an uncertain world. In a major speech this week, von der Leyen said it was time for Europe to follow Australia, proposing a new “EU Kids Act”. Attending the UN leaders week in September last year, Albanese hosted a stylish event in a room overlooking the East River, talking up Australia’s world-leading moves to ban children under 16 from having social media accounts.

That day, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the world was watching Australia. There to hear from families of children who had taken their own lives after online bullying, the leaders of Greece, Fiji, Tonga and Malta agreed it was time for change.

What has been reported

“We took action because the community said ‘enough was enough’, and we would no longer let Australian kids be treated as commodities instead of children,” Albanese said, anticipating a fight domestically and on the world stage. Australia, a middle power and a long way from many of the world’s big diplomatic questions, is portraying itself as the leader in tackling big tech’s reach into all our lives. The majority of respondents believed social media companies should be legally required to reduce foreseeable risks to users, even if it meant more restrictions on their business models.

But the polling is set against a parallel, less positive conversation about AI and Australia’s datacentre boom, with growing disquiet among communities exposed to the country’s 160-odd datacentres and about how they will be powered. To feed the AI that depend on those developments, Albanese appears open to negotiating trading Australian copyright protections in order to do business with the same companies he has taken to task over social media. In the digital safety space, Tama Leaver, a professor of internet studies at Curtin University in Perth, says Australia has shown a level of leadership not always expected from a smaller country.

“It is something that gives them a level of credibility, even if the world-leading nature of some of these plans might be slightly overstated,” he told Guardian Australia. Acting with key partners, harnessing the concerns of parents and showing that even small countries can have an outsized voice when they’re prepared to lead.

What happens next

“There is a global reckoning coming for big tech,” she says. Children under 18 will be given new protections from specific harms, shielding them from pornography; posts promoting or encouraging eating disorders; misogynistic content; depictions of crime and dangerous stunts; and content likely to cause mental health problems, including abuse and bullying. The Coalition says Labor is trying to give itself huge powers to censor conservative voices online, with insufficient checks and balances. Instead of opt-out ability, they want Australians to proactively opt in to algorithms.

The White House flagged possible pressure on Australia to stop targeting US-owned tech companies, saying Donald Trump’s administration would raise concerns with trading partners. While Australia’s social media ban has been watched around the world, in the 10 months since it came into effect, questions have been raised about its effectiveness. Research has found more than 80% of teens under 16 were still on social media following the ban.