The Greens are threatening to block the federal government’s long-awaited digital duty of care laws unless Labor introduces tougher penalties for tech giants and grants everyday Australians the right to sue social media platforms.
In his first sitting week as Greens leader, David Shoebridge has raised major concerns over the draft legislation, refusing to commit his party’s support even if the government strips sole ministerial decision-making from the Bill.
According to the ABC, Mr Shoebridge warned the maximum $100m penalty proposed in the legislation was inadequate for tech companies making billions of dollars in profit.
Instead, he called for fines to be tied directly to company revenue.
The Greens have also demanded the Bill give everyday Australians a direct right to take legal action against social media companies if they suffer harm on their platforms.
“We said that we saw the exposure draft. You can’t have bucket loads of ministerial discretion like this. That had to go,” Mr Shoebridge told the ABC on Monday.
“If we’re going to put our digital duty of care in, it needs to give a right for ordinary Australians to push back against these big tech platforms.
“You can’t have a right without a remedy. If we’re leaving it up to an unresourced bureaucrat to do it, Australians will miss out.”
The Greens’ push comes as the government prepares to introduce amended legislation to parliament, removing the controversial individual ministerial decision-making power over what constitutes harmful content and shifting it to parliament as a whole.
The change follows backlash from both the Coalition and the Greens, with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor warning the initial draft was a “blank cheque for political censorship”.
“We absolutely reject a blank check for political censorship. Now I know that’s what (Communications Minister) Anika Wells wants to do because she’s said it many times in the parliament and in public wherever she goes. She wants that blank cheque,” Mr Taylor said on Monday.
“They don’t get it. Australians do not want political censorship in this country, and they shouldn’t want it.
“I know Australians want the harm caused to younger Australians dealt with. I get that, and the government’s policies are failing on that, and they need to be fixed, and we will work with them to fix that. But what we won’t do is provide that blank cheque for political censorship.”
The government argued requiring parliamentary approval, instead of ministerial decision-making, could reduce its ability to act quickly when harmful platforms pop up.
Under the broader reforms, users will have the choice to “opt out” of algorithm-style feeds, platforms will be mandated to protect children against harmful content, including pornography and eating disorders, and eSafety will be able to issue removal notices for so-called nudify apps and child cyber bullying and adult cyber abuse schemes will be streamlined.