Australia asks Apple, Meta, Microsoft to share anti-abuse steps, threatens fines

The technology giants are under pressure worldwide to find ways to monitor streaming services

An Australian regulator sent legal letters to Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp, and Meta Platforms asking them to share their policies for discarding child abuse material from their platforms or pay fines. The e-Safety Commissioner, an office set up to protect internet users, said it used laws in January to force the technology giants to disclose measures to detect and remove abusive material within 28 days. If the companies do not comply, they would each face a daily fine of A$555,000($383,000).  Australia has been using a hardline approach to regulating Big Tech firms since 2021.

The technology giants are under pressure worldwide to find ways to monitor streaming services and encrypted messaging for child abuse material while respecting the users' privacy. The eSafety Commissioner referred to figures provided by the U.S. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, who said this year it had received 29.1 million reports of child abuse material from internet companies, of which just 160 were from Apple while 22 million were from Facebook. Apple, which owns the video messaging service FaceTime, messaging service iMessage, and photo storing service iCloud, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.