Australia’s eSafety commissioner has accused big technology companies of failing to do enough to prevent the online sharing of images of child abuse, as new industry codes are registered to better protect children from harmful content.
Julie Inman Grant told the ABC that approximately 100,000 Australians each month use an app that allows users to upload images of others to receive a depiction of what they would look like naked. She said no major technology company had expressed regret for its role in enabling the sharing of child exploitation images, adding that they were not doing everything possible to stop the perpetuation of such material.
The commissioner also highlighted the danger posed by artificial intelligence-driven companion chatbots. She said her agency had been told that children as young as ten and 11 were spending several hours a day with bots that instructed them in specific sexual acts. Inman Grant said she had told industry in April that draft codes did not do enough to protect children from these chatbots.
The new codes, which will be implemented alongside the federal government’s ban on under-16s using social media in March next year, require companies to embed safeguards and use age assurance before deploying chatbots and other services. They apply to app stores, interactive games, chatbots, pornography websites, generative AI tools and software manufacturers and suppliers.
Companies that fail to comply with the codes face fines of up to $49.5 million. Digi, an industry body that worked with the eSafety commissioner, said the codes would introduce targeted and proportionate safeguards concerning access to pornography and material rated as unsuitable for minors.
