Australia moves toward stricter social media and VPN regulations

The Australian government is moving toward stricter digital regulations, including a proposed ‘digital duty of care’ amendment to the Online Safety Act. This legislation aims to hold online service providers, social media platforms, and generative AI developers legally responsible for maintaining safe online environments. A recent survey by Essential Research indicates strong public support for these measures, with 71% of Australians favoring government intervention to mandate ‘opt-in’ features for social media algorithms.

Parallel to these safety measures, regulators in Australia and the United Kingdom are exploring ways to curb the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). In Australia, the eSafety Commissioner has expressed interest in having technology companies detect and block VPNs used to bypass age verification requirements. In the UK, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has suggested similar potential restrictions.

Critics argue that targeting VPNs may be counterproductive, as these tools are essential for privacy, remote work, and journalism. They suggest that age verification laws have inadvertently driven users toward VPNs to avoid uploading sensitive identification to untrusted websites, and that restricting VPN access may fail to address the underlying intent of users.