A reminder that submissions on the Government’s draft Online Safety Bill (Bill) close on 14 February.

On 23 December 2020, the Australian Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications began a consultation on the draft Bill. The Bill is designed to consolidate and supplement the range of existing regimes covering online content, most notably the Enhancing Online Safety Act 2015 (Cth) (EOSA) and Schedules 5 and 7 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) (BSA).

The Bill introduces an expanded take-down scheme for cyber-bullying and image-based abuse, a new take-down scheme for adult cyber-abuse, a set of basic online safety expectations (BOSE) for online services, a revised online content scheme and a blocking scheme for abhorrent violent material. It also reduces the time for responding to removal notices from 48 hours to 24 hours and incorporates civil penalties for non-compliance in certain circumstances.

If implemented, these proposed changes would increase the imperative for online services to take a pro-active approach and to have in place efficient mechanisms for responding to removal notices.

As 2020 draws to a close, the Federal Government’s staged media regulatory reform process continues to unfold with numerous reviews underway on aspects of both the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) (BSA) and other related laws.

The Australian Government has now released its response and an ‘Implementation Roadmap’ (Response) to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry Final Report (DPI Report), following a 12 week public consultation which closed on 12 September 2019. Our summary of the DPI Report is available here. The…

The boundary between consumer protection and privacy regulation is being scrutinised and challenged by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as the collection and use of customer information plays an increasingly important role in customer service and profitability. This week, the ACCC commenced proceedings against the online health booking…

The ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry Final Report has been released with 23 recommendations for wide-ranging regulatory change in areas including competition and consumer law, privacy, copyright and media regulation. This alert outlines the key points of the Final Report for consideration. Given the potential impact of these recommendations on the…