The Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, yesterday announced a review of the Basic Online Safety Expectations (BOSE) under the Online Safety Act.
The BOSE commenced in 2022 and set the benchmark for industry to take primary responsibility for online safety. It applies to all ‘online service providers’ as defined in the Act, which includes:
- ‘social media services’ as defined.
- ‘relevant electronic services’ (eg services that allow end-users to communicate with other end users by means of email, instant messaging, SMS , MMS, chat services or online games); and
- ‘designated internet services’ (for example other online services that allow end-users to access material on the internet using an internet carriage service).
The BOSE already includes a range of:
- ‘core expectations’, set out in legislation.
- ‘additional expectations’, set out in the BOSE Determination.
- Examples of reasonable steps that services can take in order to meet core and additional expectations, also set out in the Determination.
These currently relate to a range of issues including; ensuring users can safely use the online service; taking reasonable steps to minimise certain material, for example relating to cyber-bullying and abuse, non-consensual intimate images, and material that depicts or promotes abhorrent violent conduct; ensuring there are clear and readily identifiable reporting and complaints mechanisms available to end-users; and others.
This consultation proposes new or amended additional expectations and examples of reasonable steps, which broadly relate to:
- Generative AI, recommender systems and user controls;
- The best interests of the child and access to age-inappropriate materials online;
- Safety impacts of business and resourcing decisions;
- Online hate speech;
- Transparency;
- Enforcement of terms of use; and
- Other clarification and improvements to the BOSE Determination.
IAB will take a closer look at the Consultation Paper and proposed amendments in the coming weeks to consider impacts on the industry and whether IAB should contribute to the process from an online advertising perspective. Submission will be accepted until 16 February 2024.