Trade Minister Don Farrell will meet with the United States’ new ambassador to Australia David Brat hours before Labor will introduce its Digital Duty of Care, a set of social media reforms so-far agitated against by Washington.
In a September statement, the US Embassy in Australia said Washington had “serious concerns” about Labor’s reforms, including “vague definitions” of harm “becoming a mechanism for viewpoint-based censorship”.
The statement was an extraordinary intervention in Australian domestic politics at a precarious time, with the reforms likely to be sent to the Senate for an inquiry amid opposition from both the Coalition and the Greens.
Speaking on ABC, Mr Farrell said the reforms had “been raised with me every time I’ve met with the Americans” – namely, US trade representative Jamieson Greer.
“We have a difference of opinion. We certainly don’t believe anything we are doing is contrary to our free trade agreement,” he said.
“But it is the job of the Australian government to protect Australian citizens.
“There is a lot of terrible stuff out there on social media. I’ve tried to explain to the Americans that our objective is to protect our citizens, particularly young people.”
Senator Farrell denied there had been any particular trade threat.
He said Mr Brat “may or may not” raise the reforms in their forthcoming meeting.
“I don’t know. But if he does, I will explain to him, as I’ve explained to Jamieson Greer, our job as an Australian government, is to protect our citizens, and this is one of the ways we’re doing it,” he said.
Communications Minister Anika Wells was forced to defend the reforms during question time.
She will front the National Press Club on Thursday on the matter.
“An independent statutory review has found that it is not able to cope with the growing scale of problems in the online world,” she said.
“Just last week, the AFP commissioner, Krissy Barrett, warned that the police cannot be the only safety net when it comes to the radicalisation of young people online.
“By the time the AFPs knocking on a door, the harm is already done.”
Ms Wells said the reforms “will shift the “burden from the shoulders of victims” onto tech companies.
“The core of the duty is to provide a safe online environment and to put systems in place so all Australians are protected from seriously harmful and illegal content,” she said.
The Coalition has widely criticised the Bill, in particular measures that would allow eSafety to make ‘sock puppet” accounts.
The Greens, meanwhile, have argued it does not go far enough.
While Labor has a majority in the lower house, the Bill will need support from the Greens, Coalition, or crossbench to pass the upper house.