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eSafety Commissioner

Australia's federal online safety regulator, responsible for administering the Online Safety Act and enforcing platform obligations including minimum-age rules.

Known aliases

  • Australian eSafety Commissioner
  • Australia's eSafety regulator

Current stories

leadershipOne report1 publisher

Pornhub's return to Australia makes Apple the gatekeeper for adult age checks

Aylo is restoring Pornhub in Australia for users who pass Apple's iOS age checks, having blocked the country in March over rules backed by $49.5m fines. Australia's codes still place the duty to verify on the website, even though Apple now runs the check.

Publishers:theguardian.com

Reality

Evidence55
Adoption30
Hype gap+30
Incentives75
Confidence50
productConfirmed3 publishers

Australia's draft bill would make platforms keep asking if you want the algorithm off

Canberra's exposure draft takes a right Europe already granted and adds the part Europe left out: making platforms keep offering it. That obligation is also the rare online-safety rule a researcher can check in an afternoon.

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers
Builder
Builder 29%
Operator
Operator 48%
Investor
Investor 23%

Reality

Evidence60
Adoption8
Hype gap+25
Incentives55
Confidence55
scienceOne report1 publisher

One in five Australian under-16s stayed on TikTok and Snapchat after the national ban

One in five Australian under-16s still used TikTok and Snapchat after 4.7 million accounts were restricted, according to a parental-control firm. Other governments are copying the approach with no evidence yet that it makes children safer.

Reality

Evidence40
Adoption50
Hype gap+15
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence35
leadershipOne report1 publisher

Washington asks Australia to write American platforms out of its child-safety duty

The Trump administration used Australia's own public consultation to ask that American platforms be exempted from the proposed under-18 duty of care, a request that lands while the exposure draft is still being written.

Publishers:theguardian.com

Reality

Evidence60
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+25
Incentives70
Confidence57
productOne report1 publisher

Western Australia bans charging and storing smart glasses on school grounds from 12 October

The instruction issued to every Western Australian public school principal covers wearing, using, charging and storing the devices, reaches parents and contractors, and defines a smart glass by nine functions including AI.

Publishers:thenextweb.com

Reality

Evidence62
Adoption55
Hype gap+20
Incentives55
Confidence58
securityConfirmed4 publishers

The EU Kids Act would make every in-scope platform store a parent-to-child account link

The Commission's proposal bars under-13s, holds 13-to-15-year-olds to an hour a day through accounts created from a parent's, and threatens fines of up to 6% of global sales. Council and Parliament have not voted.

Perspective Coverage

3 publishers
Builder
Builder 25%
Operator
Operator 47%
Investor
Investor 28%

Reality

Evidence72
Adoption15
Hype gap+30
Incentives70
Confidence66
investOne report1 publisher

Abusive AI ad buyers reached 36,000 EU and UK accounts on Meta for under $5,000

The Tech Transparency Project counted more than 350 of these ads since late last year, some of them identical to creatives Meta had already removed, which prices the cost of beating Meta's new detection tools at roughly a re-upload.

Publishers:pivotnews.ai

Reality

Evidence63
Adoption58
Hype gap−12
Incentives72
Confidence57
scienceOne report1 publisher

Australia's draft duty of care bill turns the recommendation algorithm into a user setting

Facebook, Instagram and TikTok would have to ask each Australian whether their default feed is algorithmic or friends-only. Approved researchers would get sanctioned fake accounts to test what the systems actually serve.

Reality

Evidence48
Adoption8
Hype gap+27
Incentives62
Confidence55