Australia demands Apple, Meta, Microsoft share anti-abuse steps, threatens fines | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
Australia demands Apple, Meta, Microsoft share anti-abuse steps, threatens fines

World+Biz

Reuters
30 August, 2022, 10:15 am
Last modified: 30 August, 2022, 10:22 am

Related News

  • Russia fines Apple for violating 'LGBT propaganda' law, TASS reports
  • Microsoft offers to boost European governments' cybersecurity for free
  • Microsoft revenue hits $245 billion
  • UK to expand submarine fleet as defence review calls for 'warfighting readiness'
  • Australia's defence minister urges greater military openness from China

Australia demands Apple, Meta, Microsoft share anti-abuse steps, threatens fines

Reuters
30 August, 2022, 10:15 am
Last modified: 30 August, 2022, 10:22 am
Meta logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Meta logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

An Australian regulator sent legal letters to Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp demanding they share their strategies for stamping out child abuse material on their platforms or face fines.

The e-Safety Commissioner, a body set up to protect internet users, said it used laws which took effect in January to compel the technology giants to disclose measures they were taking to detect and remove abuse material within 28 days. If they did not, the companies would each face a fine of A$555,000 ($383,000) per day.

The threat underscores Australia's hardline approach to regulating Big Tech firms since 2021 which has so far included laws forcing them to pay media outlets for displaying their content and laws making them hand over details of anonymous accounts which post defamatory material.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The internet firms have meanwhile been under pressure around the world to find a way to monitor encrypted messaging and streaming services for child abuse material without encroaching on user privacy. 

"This activity is no longer confined to hidden corners of the dark web but is prevalent on the mainstream platforms we and our children use every day," said commissioner Julie Inman Grant in a statement.

"As more companies move towards encrypted messaging services and deploy features like live streaming, the fear is that this horrific material will spread unchecked on these platforms," she added.

A spokesperson for Microsoft, which owns video calling service Skype, said the company had received the letter and planned to respond within 28 days.

A spokesperson for Meta, which also owns messaging service WhatsApp, said the company was still reviewing the letter but continued to "proactively engage with the eSafety Commissioner on these important issues".

Apple, which owns video messaging service FaceTime, messaging service iMessage and photo storing service iCloud, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The eSafety Commissioner referred to figures provided by the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which said this year it had received 29.1 million reports of child abuse material from internet companies, of which just 160 were from Apple while 22 million were from Facebook.
 

australia / Apple / Meta / Microsoft

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infographics: TBS
    Lengthy legal road ahead to repatriate Saifuzzaman's wealth from UK
  • From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
    From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290

MOST VIEWED

  • Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
    Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    UK crime agency now freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman: AJ
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Infofgraphics: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT

Related News

  • Russia fines Apple for violating 'LGBT propaganda' law, TASS reports
  • Microsoft offers to boost European governments' cybersecurity for free
  • Microsoft revenue hits $245 billion
  • UK to expand submarine fleet as defence review calls for 'warfighting readiness'
  • Australia's defence minister urges greater military openness from China

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

3d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

6h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

7h | TBS World
Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

7h | TBS Insight
Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

8h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net