Porn and violent images to be blurred by search engines
Search engines will need to blur out pornography and high-impact violence as tech giants prepare to comply with Australia’s social media ban.
The new rules will come into force on December 27 as part of the online watchdog’s bid to protect children from inadvertent exposure to harmful internet content.
According to research conducted by eSafety, nearly one in three teenagers unintentionally encountered pornography for the first time before they turned 13.
The majority of teens (71 percent) who unintentionally stumbled upon the content ignored it, although some described unintentional encounters as frequent, inevitable and unwelcome.
“We know that much of this accidental exposure occurs through search engines, which are the primary gateway to harmful content,” said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
“When a child sees a video of sexual violence, such as a man aggressively choking a woman during sex, he cannot cognitively process that content, let alone not view it.”
Ms Inman Grant hopes this will result in search engines operating similarly to the secure search modes already available on Google and Bing.
Australians seeking information regarding suicide, self-harm and eating disorders will be referred to appropriate mental health services in accordance with additional requirements from the eSafety Commissioner.
Google and Bing already offer helplines when users search for suicide on their websites.
“If there is an Australian child out there who is considering taking their own life, I take some comfort in the fact that thanks to these codes, vulnerable children will not be sent down harmful rabbit holes or specific information about lethal methods, but will now be directed to professionals who can help and support them,” Ms Inman Grant said.
In the US, ChatGPT’s parent company, Open AI, is being sued by the family of a 16-year-old boy over allegations that the chatbot encouraged him to die by suicide.
The generative AI platform currently responds with a list of hotlines if users enter the term “suicide” into the chatbot.
Ms Inman Grant explained that the law does not require Australians to create an account to search the internet and will not notify the government if someone searches for porn.
These new rules are separate from the social media ban, which requires tech giants to prevent Australians under 16 from creating accounts on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and similar platforms.
Although the measure is being challenged in the Supreme Court, the hearing will not take place until at least February 25, meaning the ban will be in effect from Wednesday.
Social media companies face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to comply with the rules.
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