Australia seeks global coalition to counter social media giants amid increased child harms: What we know

After banning children under 16 from holding accounts on major social media platforms last December, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government is widening its campaign against online harm. Communications Minister Anika Wells is seeking to unite countries in a global coalition to pressure companies such as Meta to make their platforms safer, in a move that is now potentially expanding international efforts to tighten regulation of the tech industry.

Australia seeks global cooperation to tackle social media harms

Speaking with Bloomberg, Wells said that such a coalition could adopt a template that Canberra is expecting to form to pressure the world’s biggest companies to protect children, who are being exposed to wide-ranging online harms, from sex and violence to predators and deepfakes.

Wells added that she expects to use the proposed legislation to work with other countries on common online safety standards, especially for children. She continued that the plan has already been discussed with officials from several countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, the UK and other nations, with further talks scheduled in the coming weeks.

Wells, 41, who has three young children, said, “These are the most resourced, powerful companies in the world.” She added, “It’s going to take a coalition of lawmakers working together across the globe to take them on.”

Her remarks come a week after the Australian government proposed broad legislation requiring digital services, from social media platforms to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, to build safety features into their products from the outset.

Tech giants face growing regulatory pressure

According to the report, if Australia’s latest proposal gains international support, social media platforms like Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and ByteDance’s TikTok, along with Snapchat’s parent Snap, could face greater regulatory pressure amid concerns about harm to children. However, the plan has already drawn criticism from President Donald Trump‘s administration, which warned that Australia’s tighter rules for US tech companies could spread to other countries.

The proposed legislation would add to the already mounting troubles for Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and its social media platforms, which have been facing increased scrutiny and lawsuits over their addictive designs and the potential harms to children. In August, the tech giant agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle social media claims from 29 US states. Additionally, part of the settlement also required the firm to put new guardrails on its platforms, including restricting scrolling time for youth.

Australia has already faced challenges in getting tech giants to follow its rules. In the interview, Wells said she expects legal action against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Alphabet-owned YouTube over allegations that they failed to comply with the country’s social media ban for under-16s.

What is the Digital Duty of Care bill?

If cleared, the bill, which is called the Digital Duty of Care, would also allow social media users to turn off the algorithms that recommend content, undermining a key pillar of the platforms’ business model. The Digital Duty of Care legislation also mandates digital services, such as online games and apps, to protect those under 18 years of age from abuse, bullying and pornographic content, along with content that promotes eating disorders or is hostile to women. Service providers will also be required to carry out yearly assessments to identify and reduce foreseeable risks to users.

Companies that breach the rules could face fines of up to A$109.2 million ($76.2 million), enforced by Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner.

Wells, who wants the legislation to pass parliament by the end of the year, said, “We expect food manufacturers to test their food before they sell it to Australians,” and added, “We expect toy manufacturers to check the choking hazards before they put their toys on the shelves.”

She continued, “Those same principles underpin the digital duty of care.”