Online safety and social media regulation in Australia

Abstract

This article discusses the issue of online safety and the regulation of social media, examining first, some key theoretical perspectives on social media regulation, transparency, legitimacy and corporate regulation; second, Australian legal responses to the issue of online safety, including the Online Safety Act, legislation to curb abhorrent violent material and violent extremist material, and the eSafety Commissioner v X Corp case; and third, evolving technology-based strategies to regulation: self-regulation systems and user verification. The challenges and complexities that arise in the context of social media are emblematic of the much wider challenges facing both technology regulation and society around the world. Show more