Australia’s Online Safety Act has come into effect from January 23, 2022. The act was passed in July 2021.

Highlights

• The act allows adults to report cases of online bullying in Australia, to the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant.
• With this act, the eSafety commissioner is empowered to order social media websites to take down content related to bullying against Australian adults.
• Content shall be removed within 24 hours. In case, they failed to do so, they will face fines up to USD 555,000.

Definition of bullying

The law defines what counts as bullying. It is more detailed than current cyber laws in Australia. It has decreased the time frame to remove bullying content from present 48 hours to 24 hours. It addresses bullying against adults and children.

Who will implement the law?

With the new law, it will be the responsibility of “e-Safety Commissioner” to ensure the implementation of this act. The act seeks to promote the online safety of Australians. Act will make the e-Safety Commissioner responsible for supervising complaints and objections related to sharing intimate images without consent, manage online content as well as coordinate “activities of Commonwealth Departments, agencies and authorities related to online safety for Australians”.

How will commissioner take action?

Following a complaint against provider of a social media service, or a relevant electronic service or a designated internet service, they would be given a removal notice. Removal notice will also be sent to hosting service provider or to the person who had posted cyber-bullying or abuse material. The person or provider will be asked to “refrain from posting cyber-bullying material or apologise for posting it”.

e–Safety commissioner

Julie Inman Grant is the current e-Safety commissioner. He has spent two decades working in public policy and safety roles at organisations such as Twitter, Adobe, and Microsoft. He also used to work with the US Congress in Washington.