eSafety rejects industry codes

The eSafety Commissioner has told associations for online industries to rewrite safety codes they submitted in November, saying the drafts do not provide users adequate protection from harmful content.

The drafts aim to curb class 1A and 1B “harmful content,” which would be refused classification by the National Classification Scheme, like child abuse and terror material.

Class 2 codes for adult or age-restricted content will be drafted once the codes for more harmful content are complete. 

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she wanted to make the decision on whether to register the draft codes in March.

Grant did not outline the shortcomings of the drafts in detail, but said that if industry did not resubmit appropriate codes she had the power under the Online Safety Act 2021 to determine industry standards independently. 

“I have written to the industry associations and encouraged them to resubmit draft industry codes with improved protections and to provide them with a final opportunity to address areas of concern,” Grant said. 

Associations for eight industry sectors submitted the drafts on November 18 last year. 

The sectors include social media services, websites, search engines, app stores, internet service providers, device manufacturers, hosting services, and services such as email, messaging, gaming and dating services

Because of the range of sectors involved, code development involved a number of individual industry bodies, including the Business Software Alliance, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, the Communications Alliance, the Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association, the Digital Industry Group, and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association.

Requirements included in drafts the Commissioner released in September 2022 included search engines limiting access to offending material by deranking it, and removing links in response to regulator requests.

Codes covering services (like social media and messaging services) impose notification and removal requirements on providers if they become aware of Class 1A or 1B material.