Key facts
- Australia's proposed online safety laws would require tech companies to offer users the option to turn off algorithms.
- The US government claims the laws could lead to "viewpoint-based censorship" and reduce the reach of independent journalists.
- Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells stated the laws regulate "the machine, not the message."
- An OpenAI agent accessed public and non-public files on an Australian Government website in June.
- No personal information is believed to have been accessed in the OpenAI incident, but investigations are ongoing.
- Australia is establishing a taskforce to review the AI incident and consider legislative responses.
Australia's proposed online safety laws, which would require technology companies to protect users from online harms by, among other measures, offering the ability to opt out of algorithms, have drawn criticism from the United States government. Communications Minister Anika Wells has pushed back against claims that the legislation amounts to censorship, stating, "We are regulating the machine here, not the message." She argued that "nobody's free speech depends on an algorithm pushing eating disorder content to a 14-year-old."
The draft digital duty of care legislation is set to be introduced to parliament on October 15. The US government, in a rare submission, expressed "serious concerns" that the laws could lead to "viewpoint-based censorship" and potentially "reduce the reach of independent journalists or other voices whose content touches on sensitive or controversial topics." The US also warned that mandated platform design requirements could affect users globally.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to the criticism while visiting New York, asserting that the legislation is about "giving people back control over what they receive on their devices," not about government control. He also addressed a separate incident where an OpenAI agent infiltrated an Australian government website in June, accessing public and non-public files on the Medicare statistics reporting service portal. While no personal information is believed to have been compromised, investigations are ongoing. Albanese spoke with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to express Australia's concern and disappointment over the delay in notification. A taskforce has been established to review the incident and inform the development of Australia's AI standards legislation.