ADJOURNMENT

Ms FRANCE (Dickson) (19:45): When I read Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell in my teens while having to make phone calls from a phone that was literally connected to the wall, I never imagined a world where cameras or computers would literally monitor my every move. But here we are. Social media platforms and big tech track browsing habits, location, contacts and purchases.

With that information, they build detailed behavioural profiles, which they then monetise for targeted advertising—deciding what we see, shaping opinions, moods and behaviour that we know spills out into the real world with real-world consequences like suicide, the abuse of women, eating disorders, vaccine hesitancy, porn, addiction, the glorification of crime.

We know that, if a young man who loves rugby league gets online, the algorithm will serve toxic manosphere content encouraging that young man to see women as the enemy within 23 minutes, whether they sought it out or not. Social media platforms are also engineered to be addictive, and they especially target young people who are still figuring out their place in the world.

This week, the Albanese Labor government took the first step towards reining the algorithms and big tech firms in with draft digital duty of care laws. We released draft legislation for consultation last week—My Feed, My Way—giving Aussies the choice to opt out of algorithms while putting the onus on big tech to provide a safe online environment for under 18s.

These are minimum standards. It's not just social media. Games, apps, chatbots and online forums will be covered by these laws, providing eSafety with the power to issue removal notices for nudify apps and websites that stream cyberbullying and abuse.

Where the platforms breach their duty of care to young people, they will pay penalties of nearly $110 million, enforced by an independent eSafety Commissioner—My Feed, My Way. Tech companies must be held accountable to basic safety standards just like real-world product manufacturers. I don't know anyone that doesn't want the choice to opt out of social media platforms and algorithms.

I don't know anyone that doesn't want big tech to take responsibility for the real-world impacts of the content that they push and platform—real-world impacts that mean female teachers are copping more and more abuse from young boys; young people committing suicide as a result of online abuse and/or encouragement; religious and/or political radicalisation; increased rates of anxiety, depression and body image issues.

That is why Labor will introduce new social media duty of care laws. Giving people the choice of what they consume, see and hear has literally sent the opposition and One Nation into an absolute spin. Orwell would be baffled.

The Liberal and National parties, along with One Nation, have decided that big tech and the algorithms are not the problem. In their infinite wisdom, they have decided that the government giving people the option to opt out of the algorithm is Big Brother. It's censorship, apparently.

Right now, big tech has a big blank cheque to shovel as much garbage down our throats as they like, even if it encourages our young people to hate women, commit suicide, starve themselves, hate their bodies. So now, as the government, we say enough. People should be able to choose whether they want to swallow garbage or opt out.

Let me be clear: if you want to continue to swallow garbage, you can do so, as much as your stomach can take. But, for those of us who think that the garbage is making us sick or our kids sick, we feel it's important to give people the choice to opt out of it. The coalition and One Nation seem to be saying: 'Hell, no.

You must swallow the garbage.' I beg them: while the consultation is on, please try to be normal and constructive. If Orwell was here, he'd ask the members of the Liberal Party, the National Party and One Nation to actually read the book.