Australia: Closed consultation on Industry standards addressing online child sexual abuse and pro-terror material under the Online Safety Act 2021

On 21 December 2023, the eSafety Commissioner closed the public consultation on the draft industry standards addressing online child sexual abuse and pro-terror material under the Online Safety Act 202. The standards are addressed to designated internet services, such as applications, storage services and websites, and relevant electronic services, including gaming, messaging and dating services providers. The standards include measures for the detection of "synthetic" child sexual abuse and pro-terror content created using generative Artificial Intelligence and open-source software. Furthermore, the standards outline systems and processes to be followed to enable users to flag illegal content and measures to be adopted to reduce the risk of harmful content distribution. Previously, the eSafety Commissioner found that only six draft codes proposed by the industry contained appropriate safeguards, and two codes covering designated internet services and relevant electronic services were not providing sufficient safeguards. The eSafety Commissioner required the industry to submit standards, and if the standards don't provide sufficient safeguards, the eSafety Commissioner will establish the content moderation rules.