Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has pushed back against accusations from US Republican congressman Jim Jordan that she is a “zealot for global takedowns”. In a letter to Jordan, Inman Grant insisted that Australia’s Online Safety Act does not infringe on American free speech.
Jordan, who chairs the US House judiciary committee, had requested an interview with Inman Grant, claiming her enforcement of the act “directly threatens American speech”. He referenced eSafety’s failed attempt to have X remove footage of a 2024 church stabbing, arguing that foreign regulators should not silence protected US speech.
Inman Grant told Australian Senate estimates on Tuesday that she had written to Jordan explaining that Australian laws apply to services operating in Australia. She noted that since the church stabbing case, eSafety had accepted geoblocking Australian users as compliance, meaning US platforms are not affected for American audiences.
“What I am zealous about is protecting children online,” Inman Grant said. She declined to make her letter public until Jordan had seen it, criticising his office for leaking his original letter to Sky News.
Separately, Inman Grant faced questions from independent senator David Pocock about a Guardian investigation into Roblox, which highlighted bullying and violence against children. She confirmed eSafety was testing the platform’s features and assessing its legal ability to set up test accounts.
eSafety officials said Roblox’s primary purpose is gaming, exempting it from the upcoming under-16s social media ban, but warned that platforms must reassess if they add more social features.
