Big Tech under fire as Australia uncovers serious child safety failures: report

Australia’s internet regulator reportedly announced today that Big Tech companies including Apple, Meta and Google have significant gaps in their efforts to tackle sexual abuse and the mounting cyber risk of sexual extortion.

According to an eSafety transparency report, online platforms are failing to use technology that can identify the prominent coercion scripts used by sexual extortion offenders.

In this connection, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said: “In several cases, we have provided these platforms with evidence of how their services are being colonised by criminals to devastating impact, with clear guidance on how to stem ​the abuse.”

The latest report comes after the government drafted legislation in June to give eSafety the authority to challenge industry leaders for failing to comply with its ban on social media for under-16s, further exacerbating a regulatory dispute over how to safeguard children and teenagers online.

Australia has also been voicing concerns over the safety of children who use chat and gaming platforms. It has been observed that eSafety asked some gaming networks in April to detail how they protect children from predatory manipulation.

Australia’s Online Safety Expectations

In 2024, e-Safety directed tech platforms to report every six months on their compliance with Australia’s “Basic Online Safety Expectations” rules, focusing on identifying and preventing child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The latest report mainly focuses on sexual extortion, and the second expresses apprehensions about companies' failure to detect abusive content.

Although eSafety investigators found the specific tactics used in multiple sexual extortion scams, companies failed to spot them. 

However, some key improvements were noted such as Google and Snap taking crucial steps to foresight known child sexual abuse material. 

On the contrary, the report underlines that Discord blocks links to abusive content, Meta uses new tools to detect grooming, and Microsoft detects live abuse in video calls.

“Gaps in reporting tools also persist across services like WhatsApp, iMessage, Discord and Google Messages, with some services lacking clear, accessible ways for users to report sexual extortion or child abuse or failing to provide dedicated reporting categories for these harms,” the report continued.