Australian teenagers could be locked out of Gmail, Google Drive and other everyday communication services under proposed online safety laws, Google has warned a Senate inquiry.
Rachel Lord, Google’s public policy manager for YouTube, said the Digital Duty of Care Bill could require the company to verify users’ ages and prevent under-18s from using services including email, messaging and private file storage.
The bill is intended to protect children from pornography and fetish material. Google has argued that the relevant provisions should apply only to services whose sole or primary purpose is distributing pornography.
As drafted, the legislation covers any online service where there is a reasonably foreseeable risk that a child could encounter such material. Where it is technically feasible and reasonably practicable, providers would have to offer at least two methods of age verification and prevent users who had not been confirmed as adults from accessing it.
The bill does not expressly require children to be excluded from an entire service, but it contains no specific exemption for email or messaging platforms. A breach would carry the same maximum penalty as the proposed duty of care: up to 109.2 million Australian dollars.
Asked by Liberal senator Sarah Henderson whether Google had warned that Gmail and Google Drive might have to introduce age checks and scan private emails, messages and files, Lord replied: “Correct.” She said the company was concerned it could be required to check users’ ages and block under-18s.
Lord told the hearing that the legislation lacked the detail needed to deal properly with private communications and file storage. She also questioned the removal of privacy from the factors companies must consider when complying with the bill, after it had appeared in an earlier draft.
“We’re a bit confused about why it’s been removed,” Lord said. “There are no protections for Australian privacy when we’re talking about what are effectively private communications and private file storage.”
Henderson described the bill as “deeply flawed” and said it could force companies such as Google to carry out mass surveillance of users’ emails. Lord said Google had raised its concerns with the government, while stressing that it supported the introduction of a duty of care.
The government says the proposed laws would require large technology companies to reduce harm before it occurs, rather than relying on complaints and removals after the event. Communications Minister Anika Wells has said the legislation would establish basic safety standards for digital services and rejected claims that it could enable political censorship.
The bill passed the lower house last month. Wells wants it approved by the end of the year, with the new duty due to begin 12 months after it becomes law. The Senate committee examining the legislation is expected to report by November 20.
