Australia protects children online.

Elon Musk's X platform has been heavily fined in Australia over issues related to online child safety. (Image: Economic Times)

Tightly control social media platforms.

Under current Australian law, the eSafety Commission can fine companies that fail to respond to requests for detailed information on how to protect children online. This aims to help Australians, especially children, have a safer and more positive online experience.

According to AFP, in February 2023, eSafety contacted Twitter (later acquired by billionaire Elon Musk and renamed X) to ask the American company to explain how it handles the spread of content inappropriate for children.

A month later, Twitter merged with X Corp and was fined for "inadequate" responses to requests that eSafety had repeatedly notified.

It was in October 2024 that a federal court in Australia ruled to fine X A$650,000 (approximately US$450,000).

Australian Federal Judge Michael Wheelahan stated: “A near-maximum penalty is appropriate in the case of the defendant, a large corporation, to have a real deterrent effect and not merely to cover business costs.”

The Australian government is currently at the forefront of global efforts to control online safety and protect children in cyberspace, such as enacting the world's first law in 2025 to ban children under 16 from accessing social media platforms like X, Instagram, and TikTok.

Australia's move subsequently spread to many countries around the world. For example, Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian country to ban children under 16 from using social media since March of this year. Many European countries such as France, Poland, Denmark, and the UK are pushing forward with plans to ban people under 15 from using social media...

Experts assert that stricter control over social media platforms is a global trend aimed at protecting users, especially minors, and preventing the spread of harmful information.

Many countries are imposing stricter penalties.

Last March, a jury in California ruled that Meta and YouTube were responsible for designing social media platforms that were addictive and harmful to children. The two companies were fined a total of $6 million.

Last year, the European Union (EU) announced it could fine Meta up to 6% of its annual global revenue for violating the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to implement effective age verification measures to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram. Meta reports revenue of $201 billion by 2025.

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined Reddit a record £14 million (nearly $18 million) for illegally processing children's data and lacking age verification mechanisms for users...

Source: https://baodanang.vn/australia-bao-ve-tre-em-tren-khong-gian-mang-3337532.html