David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications. How is the Albanese government holding social media companies to account, and how are other countries responding to our world-leading action to prevent social media harm?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hughes for his question and for his efforts to make online safer for all the kids under his stewardship in Hughes.

Since gen alpha got their first smartphone and their first social media account, they have been connected to an addictive dopamine drip. Targeted algorithms, doomscrolling, persistent notifications and toxic popularity meters have stolen their attention for hours every single day, and, as a nation, Australia took bold and decisive action to protect our kids, and to give them back three more years from the persuasive and pervasive pull of those algorithms.

The eSafety Commissioner's first compliance report, released today, shows that five million under-16 social media accounts have been removed or deactivated or restricted as a consequence of Australia's world-leading social media law. Despite this remarkable progress, the report also shows that some social media giants are simply not doing enough. Some seem to be trying to get away with doing the absolute bare minimum.

The eSafety Commission report exposes unacceptable systems being adopted by age-restricted social media platforms, including allowing under-16 users to repeatedly attempt age assurance until they pass, not doing enough to prevent underage users whose accounts have been deactivated from immediately opening a new one, and ineffective and inaccessible pathways for parents and for others to report underage users.

All of the platforms covered by our social media minimum age requirement said they would respect the law. If these companies want to do business in Australia, they must obey Australian laws. As the independent regulator, e-Safety is actively investigating potential noncompliance in relation to five platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. And if e-Safety finds these platforms have systemically failed to uphold their legal obligations, I expect the commissioner to throw the book at them.

Australia's leadership in online safety has started a global movement, with more than a dozen countries now following our lead. Just this morning I met with Canada's minister for culture and identity. These leaders are asking Australia to share our expertise and experience. The drumbeat against social media harm is growing. The time for accountability is here.

We started with our world-leading social media minimum age, and we will hold them accountable for it. We are working every day to introduce a digital duty of care this year that puts the onus on tech companies to protect Australians from online harm before it occurs.