What’s New in the Law?] Australian

Semester 1, 2021

COMPETITIONS

Professional Skills Workshop 24 February Mooting Judging Workshop 25 February Negotiations Competition Begins 2 March

Mooting Workshop #1 3 March

Senior Client Interview Begins 8 March

Championship Moot Begins 9 March

Criminal Law Preliminary Round Begins 3-4 April Grand Final Week of Competitions Weeks 10-11

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Speaker Night #1: LGBTIQ and the Law 10 March Speaker Night #2: Diversity in the Legal Sector: collaboration with DWL Week 5/6 Practical Skills & Advocacy Workshop Week 8 Speaker Night #3: Indigenous and the Law Week 10

EDUCATION

Meet & Greet MULS 23 February LexisNexis Research Workshop 2 March, 16 March, 23 March, 30 March

EVENTS

International Women’s Day 8 March

aMULSing race 13 March Start of Semester Drinks Week 5 (Date TBC) Law Cruise Week 9 (Date TBC) Due to the limitations of the current law and the increasing threat to the safety of individuals, the Australian Government has proposed legislative reforms intended to strengthen safety protections for Australians when operating online. Online Safety refers to protection against and the mitigation of harm that results when individuals are exposed to illegal or inappropriate content online. Although Australia has previously implemented world-leading safety initiatives, the continual development of new technologies and changes in the way users engage with online content is placing increasing strain on the existing regime.

Consequently, the Australian Government believes that further reform is necessary to allow Australians to engage safely online and maintain a connected society.

Context to the scheme The online safety reforms are a response to the independent review conducted in 2018 by Ms Lynelle Briggs, as well as the publication of violent terror content

Australian Government proposes a new regime to promote online safety

Tara-Kate Taylor

in New Zealand in 2019. The review identified that due to the disparate operation of the current law and the emergence of new technologies, there are gaps in the protection afforded to individual Australians by the current online safety regime. The Online Safety Legislative Reform responds to this review and proposes to: • Replace the existing legislation with a single Act; • Increase the obligations of online service providers to prevent online harm; • Expand the powers of the eSafety Commissioner to address illegal and harmful content and implement targeted blocks of terrorist or extreme violent material during crises; and • Extend the scheme to material directed towards adults (as well as children).

The reforms are not intended to hinder discussion or free speech, but rather are focussed on the ‘seriously harmful content’ posted online, such as death threats, revenge porn and remarks that deliberately ‘menace, harass or offend.’ Erin Molan, a news presenter who has been subjected to vicious online bullying and was instrumental in lobbying the government for legislative change, has praised the proposal as being key to save ‘precious Australian lives.’ Penalties under the New Online Safety Regime Under the new regime, internet service providers and social media platforms will be required to remove severely harmful, abusive or bullying content within 24 hours of it being published (as opposed to 48 hours under the current regime). Companies that ignore a direction to remove trolling material will face fines of up to $550,000, whilst individuals who contravene the Act may face fines of up to $110,000. The Act will also give the eSafety Commissioner the power to reveal the identities of individuals behind fake or anonymous profiles used to spread harmful content. Consequently, there will be significantly more transparency and accountability surrounding the use of online media.

The way forward If enacted, the Online Safety Regime will not only boost the protections for individual Australians, but will also increase the responsibility on internet service providers and social media companies to protect their users. The scheme is consistent with the Australian Government’s aggressive approach to regulating the dominant media corporations and if implemented, it will be a world first. The Discussion Paper is currently under review and submissions responding to the proposals are open until 19 February 2020.