Google, Meta and others face tough questions in Australia over cyber extremism threats

Australia's eSafety regulator requires social media giants to explain efforts to protect users from extremist content.

Australia's online safety regulator has put social media giants on notice, requiring them to explain what they are doing to to protect people from violent extremists and terrorists.

The country's eSafety regulator announced Tuesday that it had issued legal notices to Google, Meta, X, WhatsApp, Telegram and Reddit requiring each company to report on steps they are taking to protect Australian users of their platforms from extremist material online.

Accessing violent and extremist content on social media has been blamed for the radicalization of the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosques shootings, which killed 51 people, and also a gunman who murdered 10 black Americans at Buffalo in New York in 2022. Both shooters also livestreamed parts of their attack online.

According to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant the risk of terrorism and online radicalization remains high both in Australia and internationally.

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“The tech companies that provide these services have a responsibility to ensure that these features and their services cannot be exploited to perpetrate such harm and that’s why we are sending these notices to get a look under the hood at what they are and are not doing,” Inman Grant said in a written statement.

“We remain concerned about how extremists weaponise technology like live-streaming, algorithms and recommender systems and other features to promote or share this hugely harmful material.”