United News of Bangladesh

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized senators for delaying proposed changes to the country's world-first social media ban for children, warning that the hold-up could allow technology companies to destroy documents that may be used as evidence against them. The government this week introduced amendments to strengthen the powers of Australia's online safety regulator, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, to enforce the ban that prevents children under 16 from holding accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The proposed changes would allow the commissioner to demand documents from social media companies, in addition to information, about the steps they are taking to keep children off their platforms. Under the current law, she can only request information. However, the opposition Liberal Party and the Greens referred the bill to an eight-week Senate inquiry on Thursday, delaying its passage. The ruling Labor government does not have a majority in the Senate. Albanese called the delay "outrageous," saying it gives social media platforms time to delete important records before regulators can legally demand them. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that if the bill had passed immediately, the commissioner could already have started requesting documents and issuing fines where necessary. The amendments would also allow the commissioner to seek information from third parties, including providers of age-verification technology, to check whether platforms' claims about preventing children from accessing their services are accurate. The bill also proposes doubling the maximum penalty for companies that fail to take reasonable steps to keep children off their platforms, increasing the fine to 99 million Australian dollars (about $68 million). Greens Senator David Shoebridge, who has consistently opposed the social media ban, questioned the need to double a penalty that has never been imposed. He argued that increasing fines alone would not necessarily make children safer online. Opposition communications spokesperson Senator Sarah Henderson said the proposed changes were still not strong enough. She described the social media ban as poorly designed, rushed and ineffective, saying Parliament should examine the amendments carefully and consider stronger measures. Australia's Parliament passed the original legislation in 2024 with broad bipartisan support, giving the 10 affected social media platforms more than a year to implement the restrictions. The Australian law has drawn global attention, with several countries monitoring its progress as they consider introducing similar child safety measures. The government initially said more than five million children's accounts had been removed, deactivated or restricted after the ban became law. However, the eSafety Commission reported in March that about 70% of children who had accounts on restricted platforms when the ban took effect on Dec. 10 were still using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. In April, Inman Grant said she was considering legal action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, arguing they had failed to take reasonable steps to prevent children from accessing their services. She said the remaining restricted platforms, including X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch, had shown more satisfactory progress. Communications Minister Anika Wells said she had been receiving monthly updates from the eSafety Commission since March and that the government had not seen the improvements it expected.

New COVID-19 cases in Australia’s most populous state surged to a pandemic record Wednesday, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with state leaders to discuss preventative measures. Morrison emerged from the national cabinet meeting again rejecting lockdowns and mask mandates imposed by the federal government. He said policies on mask wearing were best left to state governments and to Australians who should follow “commonsense behavioral measures.” New South Wales state on Wednesday recorded 3,763 new cases, up 706 from Tuesday, though the number of omicron cases was not known because genomic sequencing is not routinely carried out there. State and territory leaders were expected to press Morrison to reduce the gap between second vaccine doses and booster shots. Morrison said any decision on reducing the gap from five to four months would be made by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization. Australia has been battling the omicron variant of COVID-19 for about four weeks and cases have been steadily rising in populous New South Wales and Victoria states. Read: US population growth at lowest rate in pandemic’s 1st year Victoria reported 1,503 cases on Wednesday, of which about 60 were reportedly omicron. Morrison said Australia is taking the highly transmissible omicron strain “very seriously,” adding that “what we’re dealing with is a much greater volume of cases.” “The cases themselves don’t necessarily present the challenge, as we’ve always said. What really matters is how many people are experiencing serious illness and how many people are having to draw on the considerable resources of ICUs and our hospital system,” he added. Morrison said state and territory leaders told him that despite the increase in cases they have not yet seen any significant impact on the hospital system. The federal government from Wednesday will pay doctors and pharmacists an additional $10 to administer booster shots, Morrison said. Read: 5 children die in bouncy castle accident in Australia He said that mask wearing indoors is “highly recommended whether it is mandated or not” and that compliance with “commonsense rules” would ensure Australians celebrate Christmas with fewer disruptions. “My message is to stay calm, get your booster, follow the commonsense behavioral measures as you’re going into Christmas and we look forward to that,” Morrison said.