Aussies, Get Tough on TechPetition from IJM Australia and certain citizens of Australia to the Minister for Communications, Hon Michelle Rowland MP.
Reason
Online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) is a global crime in which children are sexually abused by traffickers who livestream the abuse to sex offenders anywhere in the world. Online child sex offenders pay for and direct the sexual abuse on everyday social media and video messaging services.
Child victims and contact offenders are usually located in developing countries, whilst online offenders are usually located in developed countries, including Australia.
International Justice Mission (IJM) researched the prevalence of OSEC in the Philippines, a global hot spot for this crime type, and found that 1 in 100, or half a million children were trafficked to produce new child sexual abuse material in 2022 alone.
According to the Philippine Government, Australians have ranked the third-highest remitters in both volume and value of OSEC-related transactions to the Philippines since 2015, behind the US and the UK.
Request
We therefore ask the Minister to legislate stronger online safety obligations for tech companies operating in Australia to protect children from online sexual exploitation, through amendments to the Online Safety Act 2021, currently under review. Specifically:
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The eSafety Commissioner should have the power to issue more significant penalties to tech companies that fail to comply with notices relating to child sexual abuse material;
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Tech companies should be required to develop their platforms, devices and operating systems safe by design to prevent and disrupt the production and sharing of child sexual abuse material; and
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The Act's provisions should apply to protect children overseas who are sexually exploited by Australian offenders online, not just to protect Australian end users.
Principal petitioner: Grace Wong, Chief Advocacy Officer, IJM Australia. |