Australia – Australia is moving closer to introducing a formal Digital Duty of Care framework for online platforms, marking one of the country’s most significant proposed shifts in digital regulation and platform accountability to date.
Last week, the Australian Government released an Issues Paper outlining plans to legislate a Digital Duty of Care that would require online services to take “reasonable steps” to prevent foreseeable harms experienced by Australians online.
The proposal follows recommendations from the statutory review of the Online Safety Act 2021 and reflects growing global pressure on governments to hold digital platforms more accountable for the societal impacts of algorithmic systems, content distribution, and online engagement models.
Rather than focusing solely on reactive moderation of harmful content, the proposed framework signals a broader move toward systemic platform accountability, examining how platforms are designed, operated, and monetised.
Under the proposal, online services could be expected to proactively identify and mitigate risks tied to the design and operation of their systems, including algorithmic amplification, harmful recommendation patterns, discrimination, exclusion, and barriers to accessing trustworthy information.
Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), alongside academics from The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology, and The University of Queensland, said the framework represents an opportunity to move beyond narrow content-based regulation toward a more holistic approach to digital governance.
In response to the Government’s Issues Paper, researchers from ADM+S and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics released a policy brief outlining key recommendations for the framework’s design.
Among the recommendations is the creation of a national platform observatory tasked with monitoring how algorithmic systems target, recommend, and curate content for Australian users.
Researchers argue that current transparency systems remain insufficient, particularly as AI-driven recommendation engines and automated decision-making systems become increasingly central to how people consume information online.
The proposed observatory would help regulators, researchers, and civil society organisations better assess whether platforms are complying with future Digital Duty of Care obligations.
The policy brief also outlines two possible implementation models: a risk-based framework requiring platforms to identify and mitigate harms arising from their systems, and an outcomes-based model focused on ensuring platforms actively contribute to safer, healthier, and more inclusive digital environments.
The proposal arrives as governments worldwide intensify scrutiny of major technology platforms and AI systems amid growing concerns around misinformation, online harms, algorithmic bias, and the broader societal impact of digital platforms.
