The Prime Minister is promoting parental controls at Apple headquarters just ten days after Labor voted against a Coalition proposal designed to give Australian parents greater choice over the digital safety tools they use to protect their children.
Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety, Sarah Henderson, said Labor now had serious questions to answer over its approach to protecting children online.
“Ten days ago Labor stood in the Senate and said our proposal would ‘make things worse and not better’. Now the Prime Minister is at Apple headquarters promoting parental controls,” Senator Henderson said.
“Parents want practical tools that help them keep their kids safe online. They should also have the freedom to choose the safety tools they trust.”
On 10 September, the Coalition moved an amendment to prevent dominant operating-system providers from unfairly locking competing digital safety services out of important device functions.
The amendment specifically allowed access to be restricted where reasonably necessary to protect device security, integrity or the privacy and security of users. Labor opposed the amendment, arguing it could create security vulnerabilities, without showing any interest in supporting the proposal or the mechanisms available to vet prospective data recipients.
“Apple’s improvements are welcome, but protecting children online is bigger than one company,” Senator Henderson said.
“Parents should not be forced to rely solely on the parental-control system offered by whichever company made their child’s phone.
“They should be able to choose a trusted safety provider and know those protections can work securely across all devices and services.
The European Commission is now also pursuing greater interoperability between parental safety tools as part of its proposed KIDS Act, released on 17 September. The Commission says parental tools should be easy and interoperable, alongside privacy-preserving age verification and parental responsibility measures.
“This should prompt the Communications Minister to explain why Labor opposed giving Australian parents greater choice just ten days ago,” Senator Henderson said.
“Parents deserve choice. Children deserve protection. And families should have access to the safety tools which work best for them.”