Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. Australians are rightly concerned about the harmful impacts of social media, particularly in relation to children, and it's a topic of live conversation around the country. Our top priority is keeping Australians safe, particularly vulnerable Australians and children. The Albanese government is determined to use all levers to address new and emerging online safety issues and to make digital platforms more transparent and accountable. One of these mechanisms is the Basic Online Safety Expectations, BOSE, determination, which is a key element of the Online Safety Act. The BOSE sets out the government's expectations for online services to keep Australians safe. It covers social media, messaging, gaming services and other apps and websites.

In November last year I announced that the Albanese government would remake the BOSE determination in order to provide the eSafety Commissioner with a clear and up-to-date remit in exercising its transparency powers in relation to online services. Today I'm pleased to inform the House that, following consultation, the Basic Online Safety Expectations have been amended to help achieve just that. The updated expectations now include a requirement that the best interest of the child is a primary consideration in any services likely to be accessed by children. It also includes an expectation that user safety be incorporated in the design and operation of generative AI and that services proactively minimise its use to create harmful content. This complements the work being undertaken by the Attorney-General to ban the creation and nonconsensual distribution of deepfake pornography.

While governments and regulators around the world are grappling with addressing the many harmful impacts of social media, one thing is clear: it is imperative that industry be more transparent and accountable. That's why the BOSE is so important. It enables the eSafety Commissioner and Australians to understand what these companies are doing and, importantly, not doing when it comes to helping stop harms. The eSafety Commissioner has already issued four non-periodic notices to more than 10 companies under the BOSE. Online safety is a collective responsibility between industry, regulators, government and civil society. It is clear that the platforms need to do more to help keep Australians safe, and the updated BOSE is a key element in holding them to account.

Finally, I understand that many parents will feel overwhelmed when it comes to keeping their children safe online. There's a wealth of resources that are freely available at esafety.gov.au, and I encourage all members to share these with their communities.

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