CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Albanese recently announced its intention to introduce legislation this year “to enforce a minimum age for access to social media and other relevant digital platforms,” stating the upcoming proposal would be based on a recent report that uses stigmatizing language to characterize all adult content.
Prime Minister Albanese justified his proposed legislation restricting minors’ access to social media platforms, claiming, “We know social media is causing social harm, and it is taking kids away from real friends and real experiences. Australian young people deserve better and I stand with them and with all Australian parents in protecting our kids. The safety and mental and physical health of our young people is paramount. We’re supporting parents and keeping kids safe by taking this action, because enough is enough.”
“A Commonwealth-led approach to this important social issue will ensure Australian children are better protected from online harms and parents and carers are supported,” the Prime Minister’s Office said through a statement.
The federal government said the legislation would be “informed by engagement with States and Territories through the National Cabinet” and would “draw upon recent work by former Chief Justice, Robert French.”
The latter statement refers to an extensive report prepared by French earlier this year for the premier of South Australia and issued this month as a 277-page document titled “Report of the Independent Legal Examination into Banning Children’s Access to Social Media.”
The report includes several mentions of adult content, justifying the government’s “age assurance” proposals as compatible with the country’s existing free-speech protections. However, as a Commonwealth country with a legal system patterned after that of its former colonial power, the United Kingdom, Australia has no blanket First Amendment-style protections.
The report lumps all “pornography” with “violent content” in one category. It also quotes an Australian Institute of Family Studies report, making generalizations about supposed health effects of all “mainstream, online pornography.”
The document also outlines how the Online Safety Act of 2021 bundles “illegal and restricted online content” as “the specific types of online harm that the eSafety Commissioner regulates through its complaints and removal schemes.” The two categories are “class 1 material” (CSAM and pro-terrorism content) and “class 2 material,” including unsuitable material, “such as pornography.”
The Online Safety Act essentially established the eSafety Commissioner as Australia’s de facto online censor. Currently, the post is held by the unelected American-Australian former tech executive Julie Inman Grant, who has acknowledged having had conversations with U.S.-based, religiously-inspired lobby NCOSE — formerly Morality in Media — and even appeared on an NCOSE podcast at the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation summit in July 2021, shortly after the Australian Parliament passed the OSA.
Main Image: Australia's former Chief Justice, Robert French