Australian authorities have issued legal notices to Big Tech companies over how they are handling child exploitation materials.
A regulator in Australia has issued legal documents to Facebook and WhatsApp's parent company Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Snap, and Omegle to urge them to disclose how they are addressing the proliferation of child abuse material on their platforms.
The e-Safety Commission, which was established to protect users of the internet, announced that its laws that took effect in January compelled Big Tech giants to make known the strategies they were undertaking to identify and remove child sexual exploitation materials within 28 days or face a fine of $383,000 per day, Reuters reported.
Australia's e-Safety Commission Combats Child Abuse Materials Online While Keeping Users Safe
Australia's e-Safety Commission is led by Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who underscored the government's new basic online safety expectations, which were designed to keep users safe and ensure companies remain transparent and accountable for what goes on in their platforms.
"Some of the most harmful material online today involves the sexual exploitation of children and, frighteningly," Inman Grant argued, as per ABC News Australia. "This activity is no longer confined to hidden corners of the dark web but is prevalent on the mainstream platforms we and our children use every day."
Inman Grant also raised concerns about how child exploitation materials would become easier to share as Big Tech giants transition to encrypted messaging services and live streaming. She added that cases of child sexual exploitation material that are being reported are the mere "the tip of the iceberg" and those that remain unreported are still a "huge concern."
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Australia's e-Safety Commissioner to Issue More Notices to Big Tech Companies
The e-Safety Commission has issued the notices to Apple, Meta, and Microsoft due to the high volume of complaints they have received, as well as the reach of service and how much information the companies have provided in terms of their safety measures and interventions on their services. The commission said it would continue to issue notices to other providers as well.
Inman Grant said that the commission had received over 61,000 complaints about illegal and restricted content since 2015. Most of these complaints involved child sexual exploitation material. She underscored how technology is now being "weaponized" to perpetrate abuse against children.
This is not the first time Australian authorities are cracking down on Big Tech firms. The Australian government had previously established laws that required Big Tech companies to pay media outlets for publishing their content and regulations that asked them to submit details of anonymous accounts that spread defamatory materials.
The challenge for these Big Tech firms now is to strike a balance between monitoring encrypted messaging to ensure user safety while ensuring they do not violate their privacy. A spokesperson for Microsoft, which owns Skype, confirmed that they received the letter and are planning to respond within 28 days. Meanwhile, a Meta spokesperson said that the company is still reviewing the letter and continues to "proactively engage" with Australian authorities on these "important issues."
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