My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Communications, Senator Farrell. Australia's been leading the world in our efforts to keep children safer online, starting with our social media minimum age law, which has seen more than five million under-16s' accounts removed and deactivated and has inspired more than 20 other countries to follow suit. How has the Albanese Labor government further strengthened our laws to ensure we can hold social media companies to account, and what are the next steps in keeping our children safe online?

I thank Senator O'Neill for her question and for the great work that she does for the people of New South Wales. Can I say that the Albanese government is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to holding big tech to account. Our world-leading social media minimum age laws sparked a global movement, and, while we are seeing the green shoots of this generational reform, it's abundantly clear that social media companies are doing the bare minimum to comply with this new law.

That's why the government acted fast to strengthen the investigative powers of the eSafety Commissioner and doubled the fines for the breach to $109.2 million. These changes mean that the eSafety Commissioner can demand information and documents from social media companies and third parties, such as age assurance technology providers. They also give eSafety the power to summon former employees or executives from social media companies to give evidence. What this means is that social media companies will have to prove to the regulator that they are doing what they say they are doing to keep under-16s offline. The message from the Albanese government to social media companies could not be clearer—if you want to do business on our shores, you must follow Australian laws or face significant penalties.

Of course, online harm extends beyond social media to other spaces children inhabit. That's why the Albanese government is legislating a digital duty of care, which will put the onus on big tech to prevent harms before they occur across all online services.

Senator O'Neill, first supplementary?

Thank you, Minister. I'm sure everybody who cares about kids will appreciate that response. The Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, in the report on combating online antisemitism in Australia, has called on parliament to pass the digital duty of care amid concerns that children are being served antisemitic content. How does the Albanese Labor government's digital duty of care protect children from harmful content in online spaces?

I thank Senator O'Neill for her first supplementary question. Parents across Australia are worried about what their children are seeing and who they are talking to online, be that on online gaming platforms, when talking to AI chatbots or through messaging platforms. The special envoy joins the many community organisations and public figures who support the digital duty of care, noting that it will make it harder for algorithmic recommended systems to serve antisemitic content to children.

The Albanese government's digital duty of care will require tech companies to examine how their tools and features, including algorithms and across games and chatbots, amplify extremist content, because we can all agree that— (Time expired)

Senator O'Neill, second supplementary?

A recent emerging harm is a technology that gave people the ability to create AI generated nude images of people, including children, and then share them online. How's the Albanese Labor government responding to this new harm, and how will the digital duty of care protect Australians, especially children and young people, against these sorts of apps and websites?

I thank Senator O'Neill for her second supplementary question. These apps and websites are abhorrent and have no place in our community. The eSafety Commissioner's enforcement action under the existing Online Safety Act has already led to eight of the most popular services in Australia either withdrawing their services from our country or putting in place age assurance to prevent children accessing these services.

The Albanese government's digital duty of care will now go further, providing new powers to allow the eSafety Commissioner to issue take-down notices for apps or websites predominantly designed or used to generate fake nude material. This will provide eSafety with an efficient, targeted mechanism to restrict access to these services and to rid Australia of these horrendous apps.