Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety Commissioner, has signalled Labor’s online safety overhaul could be bolstered by introducing minimum standards for tech companies and stronger enforcement measures, as the government races to pass its bill by the end of the year. Source: The Australian.
As the world’s biggest social media platforms prepare to front a Senate inquiry today, Ms Inman Grant addressed concerns about plans to repeal the current Online Safety Codes and Standards once the Digital Duty of Care comes into effect.
With just one sitting fortnight left to pass the bill, Ms Inman Grant put forward another model in the eSafety’s submission to the inquiry.
The commissioner acknowledged the existing draft legislation did not have a mechanism to set “specific obligations” under the current duty, which could benefit from including and combining elements of the existing model.
The duty is designed to proactively prevent harm while the current codes are more reactionary, allowing the government to police specific rule breaks.
Concerns about the patchiness of this model have supported calls for the duty of care bill to be amended and Ms Inman Grant suggested changes could be made to merge the best of both designs.
“The combination of an overarching duty of care combined with specific obligations would establish both a proactive onus on industry to take responsibility for ensuring a safe online environment and a meaningful change in how industry approaches the design, development and deployment of their services into Australia,” Ms Inman Grant wrote in her submission.
“Noting this debate, should Parliament seek to establish enforceable baseline obligations under the digital duty of care, this could be achieved by amending the bill to allow for minimum obligations to be prescribed under a disallowable legislative instrument.”
Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said the submission was a “devastating critique” of the duty of care legislation that identified “serious flaws” with the bill.
An eSafety spokeswoman denied the submission found flaws, instead saying it outlined opportunities for “strengthening aspects” of the bill while responding to concerns raised during the inquiry.
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Julie Inman Grant signals tougher tech rules as Labor races to pass online safety bill (By Elizabeth Pike, The Australian)
