Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to rise to speak to this motion, which the member for Brisbane has introduced on my behalf. I thank the members who have already spoken about the very important select committee which this motion proposes to establish so that members from all parties can come together to examine these issues, which are demonstrably of very substantial concern to Australian families, to Australian parents. I think we all know, from the concerns raised with us in our electorates by our constituents, that parents are very concerned about the impact of social media on children. They're very concerned to know what they need to do to be responsible in keeping their children safe. In particular, they want to be satisfied that, in this environment, where children and adults spend many hours a day and week, the platforms that provide this environment, and that do so in the course of pursuing highly profitable businesses, are making every effort to meet community expectations about people being safe online.

All Australians should be able to engage online confidently—to work, to communicate, to be entertained—without fear of abuse, humiliation or exposure to harmful content.

This has been an area where our Liberal-National government has had a very strong focus since we came to government in 2013. We came to government with a commitment to establish an office then known as the Children's eSafety Commissioner. We delivered on that commitment, established that office and legislated to give the holder of that office the power to administer a scheme to deal with the cyberbullying of Australian children. Since that came into force in 2015—in the face of strong resistance from the tech sector, I might say; in the face of continual advice that it wasn't necessary, that they had it under control; in the face of warnings that, if we took this action, Australia would become a global technology backwater; in the face of all of that—we delivered on what we had committed to, which was to establish a practical scheme to deal with the problem of cyberbullying.

Since that time we've added to the responsibilities of what is now known as the eSafety Commissioner. We established a legislative scheme to deal with the serious problem of the unauthorised sharing of intimate images, something which overwhelmingly affects women and girls and which is devastating to anybody who is a victim of it. We introduced powers to deal with abhorrent violent material following the shocking—the shocking—live streaming of the murder of over 50 people in the Christchurch mosque attack. When we went to the 2019 election, we committed that we would introduce a new and stronger online safety act, and we've done that. I want to acknowledge the bipartisan support we've had from the other side of the chamber, from the Labor Party, on the Online Safety Act. I also want to call out the extraordinarily irresponsible behaviour of the Greens, who voted against the Online Safety Act, notwithstanding the fact that they claim to be concerned about women's safety. It was quite an extraordinary and inexplicable decision on behalf of the Australian Greens party. You could not find better evidence, if any were required, as to how out of touch they are with the concerns of mainstream Australians.

We know that issues of very considerable concern remain. We know that the algorithms used by the platforms have a capacity to attract children, and indeed adults, into going further and further into seeing content, having exposure to content, which may not be in their best interests. We know that there are significant mental health consequences. I want to acknowledge the work of the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, the member for Banks, who's doing outstanding work. We heard this morning, at headspace, that a significant number of young people who seek mental health assistance from headspace do so as a consequence of their exposure to social media.

We do have a strong and continuing agenda, but we want to hear from Australians. We've seen revelations, globally, thanks to commentary and information provided by the US Facebook whistleblower Ms Haugen, including in her congressional testimony, about aspects of Facebook's operating model. These are issues that we want to hear about from all stakeholders. And we want to hear from big tech. We want to hear them explain to the Australian people what proactive measures they are taking to keep Australians safe online. The eSafety Commissioner has substantial new powers through our Online Safety Act. I am confident that the testimony and the evidence that will be received by this committee, and the findings of the committee, will inform the work of the eSafety Commissioner as she makes regulations under that act, as she finalises the basic online safety expectations, along with all the other steps that will occur to give effect to that very powerful regulatory apparatus that we put in place.

Also, of course, just this week the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General announced the introduction of new legislative powers designed to require that anonymous online trolls be unmasked. We're going to do that by creating an appropriate set of incentives in defamation law so that if the platforms do not provide a complaint scheme allowing people a quick and efficient way to raise concerns about material which they believe is defamatory of them the platforms themselves will be liable in defamation law as publishers. So this is a set of regulations designed to give the appropriate incentives for those businesses to take the steps they need to take to keep their users safe. They've got the expertise in how their businesses operate, but we have stated very clearly what the principles are that we expect them to live up to. The exposure draft will be released today, I am advised, and there will be a significant period of consultation about the details of that. We do look forward to engaging with the tech sector in relation to those details.

I want to be very clear. The internet is, unambiguously, a force for good. The economic, social and educational benefits that it provides are profound. The opportunities it provides for people to stay in touch with friends and family, particularly through the pandemic, is just one example of the great richness of connectivity that the internet provides. But I think there is a very good analogy with the global automotive industry. We know that human beings find it enormously convenient to move around in private motor cars. Ever since they were invented, in the second half of the 19th century, they have been enthusiastically adopted. But what we also know is that there has been a steady improvement in safety standards and the application of regulatory requirements—indeed, global regulatory requirements—applying to global automotive manufacturers.

Here in Australia, under the relevant legislation, we can and do adopt those global standards. But we also reserve the right to impose Australian-specific standards, and that must be the principle for the sovereign government of Australia: that we will reserve the right to legislate and set the standards that those doing business in Australia must meet, including in the provision of online services. Tech platforms and digital platforms are used by millions of Australians: over 19 million Australians use Google every month and over 17 million use Facebook every month, according to the ACCC's Digital platforms inquiry report. The government of Australia, on behalf the people of Australia, expects that those are safe environments. We know that this is an issue of considerable concern. We've had a substantial legislative and regulatory agenda in this space since 2013, but it is a fast-changing space and a space where Australians—in particular, parents—are very concerned about ensuring that everything possible is being done to keep children and young people safe and, indeed, to keep Australians of all ages safe. That is why this select committee will be a very important exercise in reviewing the work that's been done and identifying whether further work needs to be done. I look forward to all stakeholders having the opportunity to fairly put their case before the committee.

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