Australian Tech Industry Publishes Draft Online Safety Codes

CANBERRA, Australia—Adult websites operating in Australia's digital space could soon be removed from search engine results and popular social media platforms unless age verification is in place, according to a draft regulatory code by private tech industry stakeholders that was released Tuesday.  To comply with Australia's Online Safety Act, stakeholders from digitally-native industries must develop online safety codes in collaboration with the eSafety Commissioner's Office. Digitally-native industry associations are required by the act to develop legally acceptable "codes of practice" to protect users, mainly minors, from certain materials. The codes for regulating certain types of content were developed by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, the Communications Alliance, the Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association, Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI), and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association. No companies that own adult properties are in the groups listed here. However, the parent company of X and platforms like LinkTree are members. X allows adult content and this was made official months prior. LinkTree is a popular "link-in-bio" provider used by adult content creators, producers and studios. This runs counter to claims that Australia eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has tasked tech giants and adult entertainment platforms to adopt the required codes of practice. Reports have suggested that Aylo, the Montreal-based parent company of Pornhub.com, has been involved with consultations for eSafety's age verification rules. Grant's office consensus is that the private sector's involvement in establishing the standard for a national online safety code is a much better step than unilaterally forcing inconsistent, partisan regulations. AVN has previously reported on the Albanese government adopting this course of action in August 2023. Australia's choice of not enforcing mandatory age verification comes amid a rash of new laws requiring age verification in the United States and a legislative trend in Western Europe calling for similar measures. As part of its efforts to combat gender-based violence against women, the Australian government previously announced funding to test age verification for pornography websites in a pilot program. AVN additionally covered this trial period to test the technology. All of these trade groups published the draft codes and referred to them as "Draft Online Safety Codes." Provisions in the codes include codes of practice to protect minors from age-restricted materials and could deeply regulate messaging services by forcing the automatic measure to detect and blur nude images in online dating applications. This means that companies like X would have to adopt age-verification technology, like artificial intelligence-powered age assurance. Dr. Jennifer Duxbury, regulatory affairs and research policy director for DIGI, told News.com.au, "The draft safety codes we’ve released today are a joint effort between companies committed to online safety and the government to strengthen safeguards for minors when it comes to online pornography and age-inappropriate content." The companies announced a public consultation period scheduled between October 22 and November 22, 2024. These draft codes apply to social media, pornography and age-restricted materials, content potentially harmful to mental health, and gambling content.