Social media ban: Anika Wells warns delaying legislation upgrades means ‘delaying accountability’

Communications Minister Anika Wells says it would be “disappointing” if upgrades to Australia’s under-16s social media ban were delayed by a politically motivated Greens-led inquiry.

The changes, which aim to strengthen the eSafety Commissioner’s powers to take on big tech companies who aren’t complying, were introduced on Monday and debated on Tuesday.

Both the Greens and Coalition have indicated they want the amendments to be sent to an inquiry rather than pass the Parliament before it breaks for winter recess later this week.

It came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he wanted the new laws to pass “as soon as possible” so the government could take legal action against the tech companies.

Ms Wells warned delaying the amendments would simply postpone much-needed accountability for big tech following recent compliance notices issued to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat.

“I want this legislation through because I want the eSafety Commissioner to have enhanced powers, so that she can get her enforcement action into court,” she said.

“If we had to delay taking big tech to court for doing the wrong thing by Australian kids and parents because of a certain inquiry issued by the Greens… that would be disappointing.

“Every day we delay, we’re delaying accountability.”

In speaking to the amendments on Tuesday, Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie criticised the speed and lack of scrutiny over the changes.

“We are being asked to pass this Bill within 24 hours, and it is not clear from the content of this Bill that it will actually bring about change in efficiency in the operation of this reform,” she said.

She reminded Ms Wells that “the rest of the world is watching us” after 20 countries begun or expressed interest in following Australia’s lead.

Ms McKenzie also reminded the House that when former Liberal leader Peter Duttion first proposed the restrictions for teens, Labor had tried to “punt the issue into the long grass”.

“The Prime Minister sought to punt the issue into the long grass, referring the matter to a select committee, the Joint Select Committee on Social Interest and Society,” she said.

The Greens said they wanted a stronger push to regulate social media algorithms, arguing users should have the ultimate control over what appears in their feeds.

“Young people are falling through the cracks and are now finding themselves on social media with even less protection than they had two years ago and that’s a problem,” Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“The government knows what they need to do, and that is to crack down on the algorithms.

“Give individual users, young people, and parents, and everybody online control over our own social media feeds.

“We’ll be looking at this legislation and considering whether it needs to go to a Senate inquiry before it is passed and debated in the Senate.

“I urge the government to work with us.”

Under the changes fines for breaches by tech companies would be ratcheted up to $99 million and would allow internet regulator Julie Inman Grant to demand more data.

Teal MP Zali Steggall on Tuesday described the social media ban as a “lawyer’s picnic”.

“This Bill is a lawyer’s picnic, especially when you’re talking about social media platforms with extremely deep pockets,” the new Community Strong Australia MP said.

“Without a clearer definition of reasonable steps, the government is simply inviting exactly the kind of litigation it says it wants to avoid.

“The government should not mistake stronger enforcement powers for a stronger policy.

“The proposed Digital Duty of Care must be the centerpiece of the next stage of reform.”

The amendment Bill comes as the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its latest screen time and physical activity data for children.

It showed only about a quarter of children aged 5–17 meet daily screen time guidelines.

“While one in four children meet the guidelines for sedentary screen time every day, almost half meet the guidelines on 5 or more days in a week,” ABS head of health and disability insights Suraksha Maharaj said.

“We found that across all children aged 5–17 years, the average time spent on sedentary screen activity was two hours and 51 minutes every day.

“On average, older children aged 15–17 years spend over four hours on screen activities every day, while younger children aged 5–8 years spend just under two hours every day.”