Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, provided an inspiring keynote at Australia’s National Press Club. She underscored the urgent need to address online harms to children. Her speech, titled “Swimming between the digital flags: helping young Australians navigate social media’s dangerous currents,” outlined critical challenges and initiatives aimed at safeguarding youth in the digital sphere.
Inman Grant’s keynote speech addressed disturbing statistics showing that seven out of ten children are exposed to inappropriate material online. This disgusting material ranges from misogynistic content to hate speech to the promotion of disordered eating. She highlighted that 75% of this dangerous content shows up only on social media platforms. This includes trendy platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Snapchat. The information she shared in her speech was based on a survey of more than 2,600 children ages 10 to 15.
The eSafety Commissioner Fiona Sharkie voiced her safety concerns about the dangers apps using generative artificial intelligence (AI) expose children to. She mentioned how these kinds applications can foster environments that make having harmful emotional investment and thus, harmful encounters possible. Inman Grant stated, “Emotional attachment to AI companions are built-in by design, using anthropomorphism to generate human-like responses and engineered sycophancy to provide constant affirmation and the feeling of deep connection.”
This would provide kids the time and flexibility to hone the critical digital literacy needed to thrive in today’s world. This program is designed to help young Australians to be safe, smart and kind online. She envisions making sure children have both digital and algorithmic literacy, so it’s like giving them “online swimming lessons.”
Inman Grant described the burdens that minimum age legislation would place on social media platforms. She added that this new law shifts the responsibility onto tech companies to help keep children safe, rather than putting the responsibility on parents alone. The ultimate decision on whether to put the ban into effect would be up to the communications minister.
Others, like expert Lizzie O’Shea, have warned that there are significant privacy implications that will result from age assurance technology. These concerns underscore the importance of a measured approach as regulations continue to develop. Inman Grant’s advice on the teen social media ban has drawn mixed responses, with some experts labeling it inconsistent and contradictory.
The eSafety Commissioner’s agenda goes far beyond social media. She further underscored that harms happen off-line, too. She highlighted the importance for all actors—government, industry, and civil society—to go beyond gender-specific approaches to address online and offline harms. “Perhaps the most troubling finding was that one in seven children we surveyed reported experiencing online grooming-like behavior from adults or other children at least four years older,” she remarked.
Inman Grant tackled the disturbing trend of “declothing apps.” These apps use generative AI technology to create lifelike pornographic content or manipulate images. She described this trend as a “tremendous cause for concern,” emphasizing that “there is no positive use case for these kinds of apps – and they are starting to wreak systematic damage on teenagers across Australia, mostly girls.”
Inman Grant spelled out Australia’s approach to make tech companies responsible during her keynote address. She contrasted this approach with regulations in other consumer facing industries. She stated, “We are treating Big Tech like the extractive industry it has become,” urging companies to provide the “lifejackets and safety guardrails” necessary for protecting young users.
