International Justice Mission (IJM) Australia welcomes the enforcement of the eSafety Commissioner’s new mandatory tech industry codes to tackle online child sexual abuse material from tomorrow.
From 16 December, eSafety’s new tech industry codes will be enforceable, allowing the Australian regulator to investigate and ensure compliance of these codes through measures including injunctions and fines of almost $700,000 per day for continuing breaches.
IJM Australia’s Policy & Campaigns Lead Briony Camp said, “The eSafety Commissioner’s world-leading tech sector regulation is essential to tackling the growing problem of the online sexual exploitation of children by reducing the availability of child sexual abuse material online.”
IJM is pleased to continue working together with the eSafety Commissioner and international law enforcement agencies to protect vulnerable children in the Philippines from online sexual exploitation and abuse by child sex offenders, including here in Australia.
“IJM’s recent Scale of Harm (1) study showed the scale of this problem in the Philippines, revealing 1 in 100 or 500,000 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual abuse materials in 2022 alone,” Ms Camp said.
“With Australians consistently ranking among the top consumers of online child sexual abuse material from the Philippines, it is imperative we continue to act to curb online sexual abuse of vulnerable children, including through strengthened tech industry regulation,” Ms Camp said.
1 IJM 2023 Scale of Harm report available here.
