US EditionAustralia Watchdog Says Tech Giants Turning 'Blind Eye' to Child Abuse Material
AUSTRALIA, AUG 5 – The eSafety Commissioner found YouTube and Apple failed to track or respond to child abuse reports, with safety gaps including poor use of hash-matching technology, prompting government action.
- On August 06, 2025, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant released a report accusing YouTube of being unresponsive to child sex abuse material and 'turning a blind eye'.
- The eSafety office mandated Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap, and WhatsApp to report on child safety measures after some companies ignored previous warnings, accused of turning a blind eye, according to Julie Inman Grant.
- The report found safety gaps including failures to detect live-streamed abuse, weak reporting methods, and that platforms were not using hash-matching technology across all services.
- Last week, the federal government included YouTube in its world-first under-16s social media ban after eSafety's advice, despite threats of a High Court challenge.
- Amid tightened regulations, tech companies must report to the commission every six months on efforts to tackle child sexual abuse material, with firms facing fines of up to Aus$49.5 million.
25 Articles
25 Articles
YouTube, others 'turning a blind eye' to child abuse material: Australia regulator
Australia’s internet watchdog says the world’s biggest social media firms are still “turning a blind eye” to online child sex abuse material on their platforms, and YouTube in particular had been unresponsive to its enquiries.
Australia's internet regulator has criticised big tech companies for failing to act on child sexual abuse material on their platforms. In a report, the Internet Safety Commissioner said YouTube and Apple had failed to provide data on user reports and how quickly they responded to them. She accused the companies of "turning a blind eye" to serious crimes taking place on their services. As a result, the Australian government included YouTube in it…
Watchdog says tech giants still failing on child abuse
Tech giants have been accused of not doing enough to prevent child abuse material on platforms. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS) By Savannah Meacham in Brisbane Tech giants have been slammed for failing to crack down on online child sexual abuse material after a safety watchdog raised the alarm about ongoing failures. But one of those mega-companies has doubled down that it is successfully removing child abuse content, saying the watchdog focused on metri…
YouTube and Apple among those still 'turning a blind eye' to child abuse material, eSafety commissioner finds
The world’s biggest social media firms are still “turning a blind eye” to online child sex abuse material on their platforms, and said YouTube in particular had been unresponsive to its enquiries, the eSafety Commissioner in Australia has found.
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