Australia’s online safety regulator has accused major technology companies, including Apple, Meta, and Google, of failing to do enough to combat child sexual abuse and the growing threat of online sexual extortion.
In a transparency report released on Tuesday, the country’s eSafety Commission said major online platforms continue to have significant shortcomings in detecting and preventing criminal activity targeting children, despite the availability of technologies designed to identify abusive behaviour.
The regulator said many platforms have failed to deploy tools capable of detecting well-known coercion scripts commonly used by perpetrators of online sexual extortion.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the agency had repeatedly shared evidence showing how criminals were exploiting digital platforms and had provided practical recommendations to curb the abuse.
“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,” Grant said.
“Even when we’ve laid this out, we haven’t seen adequate responses, despite the technology being readily available,” she added.
Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Snap did not immediately comment on the regulator’s findings.
The report comes as Australia intensifies efforts to strengthen online child safety through tougher regulation of technology companies.
In June, the Australian government introduced legislation that would give the eSafety Commission greater powers to take legal action against platforms that fail to comply with the country’s social media ban for children under the age of 16.
Australia became the first country to introduce such restrictions, with several other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and European countries, considering similar measures.
The government has also expanded its scrutiny of online gaming and messaging platforms over concerns that children are increasingly being targeted by online predators.
Earlier this year, the eSafety Commission directed several gaming platforms to explain the measures they have in place to prevent child grooming and protect young users from sexual exploitation.
