Social media companies should take proactive steps to keep Australians safe online under a federal government plan to legislate a “digital duty of care”.

It marks the latest move by the Albanian government to put the onus on social giants to ensure users, especially children, are safe on their platforms.

The Digital Duty of Care was recommended in the to-be-published independent review of the Online Safety Act handed to the government last month.

It follows similar moves by the UK and the European Union and would require platforms to move from reacting to harm to taking reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the obligations would build on existing complaints and takedown schemes under the Act.

“What is needed is a shift from reacting to harm, relying only on content regulation, to systems-based prevention, accompanied by a broadening of our view of what online harm is,” she said.

Strong penalties for companies that do not take preventive measures

The new obligation would add to the government’s move to ban children and teenagers under 16 from using social media, announced last week.

The Albanian government has increasingly focused on growing online harm, including explicit and hateful content.

Ms Rowland said changes were needed to focus more on how content can harm mental health.

“The Albanian government is clear where it stands – on the side of millions of concerned parents, children and citizens in general,” she said.

“This, as part of a growing global effort, will provide a more systemic and preventative approach to making online services safer and healthier.

The minister said the new obligation would mean platforms must continually assess and take preventative measures to mitigate potential risks.

Ms Rowland is making the announcement as the government takes further hits from another bill aimed at curbing the spread of misinformation and disinformation online.

The government’s chances of passing its disinformation and disinformation bill took another hit on Wednesday, with independent senator David Pocock saying he would oppose the bill, leaving the government with a narrow path to making it law.

Digital debt follows international efforts

This global effort included the EU Digital Safety Act, which mandated that platforms pay attention to the design and operation of their platforms to ensure that people are not harmed when using them.

Companies found to be in violation of this law can be fined up to 6% of their annual turnover, which could total hundreds of millions of dollars in the case of platforms like Meta.

The UK has also introduced laws that task platforms with preventing access to content that promotes suicide or eating disorders, as well as restricting access to pornography.

The Albanian government said the proposed changes would make Australia a world leader in online safety.