Online Safety Amendment

Since many people will believe that the Online Safety Act is there to protect children from sexual predators and exposure to lewd or aggressive sexual material, it is relevant to note that pornography websites are not included in this 'online safety ban.'  Australian political comedian, Lewis Spears, says that this clearly means that the Online Safety Act is not about 'protecting children.'  See end of article for performance dates in Frankston and Canberra in Australia.

On 27 November 2024, the Australian House of Representatives passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, a law ostensibly designed to protect children from the harms of social media. While the stated intention behind the bill is widely supported, the way it has been introduced and debated (or arguably not debated) raises serious concerns about democratic transparency, proportionality, and the erosion of online freedoms for all Australians.

Online Safety or Overreach? Concerns About the Social Media Minimum Age Bill 2024

Unfortunately the 'Online Safety Amendment (Protecting Australian Children from Online Harm) Bill 2023 passed the Australian Senate last night, with an amendment to be inserted after section 63D.  I attach both the bill and the Senate amendment to the bill. 

Under the "Online Safety Amendment (Protecting Australian Children from Online Harm) Bill 2023, we really will all face overwhelming risks of personal and commercial data breaches.

The title of the bill, before the Senate today, is "Online Safety Amendment (Protecting Australian Children from Online Harm) Bill 2023." It will put Australians using social media at risk of identity theft because they will potentially need to provide social media companies with sensitive identity information.