Australian teenagers could be locked out of Gmail and other email services under the federal governmentโs online safety overhaul, Google has told a Senate inquiry.
YouTube public policy manager Rachel Lord said on Monday that one section of the Digital Duty of Care bill could force Google to check usersโ ages and block under-18s from โeveryday communication services like messaging, email and private file storageโ.
The section is designed to keep children away from pornography. Google wants it limited to services whose sole or main purpose is distributing porn.
The bill, which passed the lower house last month, would make online companies act to reduce harm before it happens, with penalties of up to $109.2 million. Communications Minister Anika Wells wants it passed by the end of the year, and the new duty would begin 12 months after it becomes law.
The section covers any online service where there is a reasonably foreseeable risk a child could come across pornography or fetish material. Where it is technically feasible and reasonably practicable, companies must offer at least two ways of checking a userโs age and stop anyone not verified as an adult from seeing that material.
It does not expressly say under-18s must be blocked from a service altogether, but it has no exemption for email or messaging. A breach carries the same maximum penalty as the duty itself.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson asked whether Google had warned that Gmail and Google Drive could be forced to introduce age checks and scan private emails, messages and files. โCorrect,โ Lord replied, adding that Google was concerned about having to check ages and block under-18s.
Lord, who appeared alongside representatives from Meta, Snap and TikTok, said privacy had been dropped from the factors companies must weigh when complying with the law despite its appearance in a draft released in September.
โWeโre a bit confused about why itโs been removed,โ she said. โThere are no protections for Australian privacy when weโre talking about what are effectively private communications and private file storage.โ
The bill says companiesโ actions should be judged on factors including security and whether they are proportionate to the risk. It does not list privacy and says cost must not be considered.
Henderson, who called the bill โdeeply flawedโ, said it would require companies such as Google โto conduct mass surveillance of peopleโs emailsโ.
Lord said Google had raised its concerns with the government, and that the bill was โmissing the nuance and the detailโ needed for private communications and file storage.
She added that Google supported the introduction of a duty of care. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, whose party secured the inquiry, said tech companies needed tougher oversight.
โWe actually need some proper rules in place because your community guidelines clearly arenโt cutting it,โ she told TikTok during Mondayโs hearing.
Wells has rejected claims the bill would enable political censorship, telling the National Press Club last month it was โabsolutely nothing of the sortโ.
The government says the laws would put the onus on big tech to reduce harm before it occurs, rather than relying on complaints and takedowns after the damage is done. Wells has said the law would โset basic safety standards for the digital services we use every dayโ, comparing it with rules for food, cars and childrenโs toys.
The bill would also give Australians the option of turning off their social media algorithm.
The committee is due to report by November 20.
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David Swan is the technology editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor for The Australian newspaper.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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