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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly on his government’s leading-edge teen social media ban to wide acclaim.
Four months later, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is wondering about her safety if she returns to the US to explain to its politicians Australia’s move to ban children under 16 from holding or creating accounts on 10 age-restricted platforms .
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has been summoned to testify before US Congress.Credit: Martin Ollman
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has repeatedly summoned Inman Grant to testify before Congress and is threatening her with contempt over the ban, which came into effect on December 10. Jordan has published two letters since November demanding Inman Grant, who holds both US and Australian citizenship, testify before the committee. In his letters, Jordan says the commissioner is seeking to “implement a global censorship regime” and he accuses her of harassing US companies.
The congressman cited eSafety’s demand that Elon Musk’s social media platform X remove graphic footage of a church stabbing in Sydney, saying global removal was necessary because Australians could easily get around the censorship.
His second deadline for her to testify before Congress passed on January 13, but she has not yet appeared. When asked whether she felt she could safely return to the country of her birth, Inman Grant told journalists on Friday, “we shall see”.
Many nations believe the Australian move to protect the young is a wonderful idea. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament this week that a teen social media ban was under consideration there. Governments in Denmark, the European Union, France, New Zealand and Malaysia are similarly inspired.
Inman Grant’s continuing concern about visiting the US coincided with the announcement that 4.7 million accounts in Australia had been deactivated by eight tech giants since the ban had come into effect.
Meanwhile, Albanese locked in behind his eSafety commissioner on Friday. He sent the US a blunt message about her work policing social media companies, including restrictions on artificial intelligence that generates sexualised images without consent and Australia’s ban on social media for under 16s.
“I think she’s doing a terrific job. We extended the [commissioner’s] funding and she’s now leading what is world-leading activity, something of which I think Australia can be proud, and I think she can be very proud, frankly, of the job that she’s doing,” Albanese said.
