Australia: Introduction of Online Safety Bill 2021

On 24 February 2021, the Online Safety Bill 2021 was introduced to the Parliament. The Bill would create a notification scheme for cyber abuse by users and would require service providers to respond to a removal notice by the eSafety Commissioner within 24 hours. The Bill would expand the digital services in the scope of this new regulation beyond social media platforms to search engine services and app stores. The Bill introduces the “Basic Online Safety Expectations for online service providers” which include, among others, the expectation that the service provider will take reasonable steps to ensure that end‑users are able to use the service in a safe manner and to minimise the extent to which certain material is provided on the service, including cyber‑bullying material, cyber‑abuse material, non‑consensual intimate images of a person, and material related to abhorrent violent conduct. Further, the Bill broadens the Cyberbullying Scheme for children to capture harms that occur on services other than social media. It also updates the Image-Based Abuse Scheme that allows the eSafety Commissioner to seek the removal of intimate images or videos shared online without the consent of the person shown and gives the eSafety Commissioner new powers to require internet service providers to block access to material showing abhorrent violent conduct such as terrorist acts.