US warns Australia's digital duty-of-care plan could encourage censorship
( September 23, 2026, 02:00 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: US officials on Tuesday warned that Australia’s proposed digital duty-of-care regime could encourage online platforms to suppress speech to avoid liability and could impose product-design requirements affecting American companies and users globally. In a submission on Australia’s draft Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026, the US raised concerns about how the government would define “foreseeable harm,” potential requirements for platforms to alter algorithms and the risk of platforms pre-emptively moderating content to avoid penalties. The US also warned that Australia-specific requirements could result in broader changes to platforms’ global operations, create conflicting obligations across jurisdictions and impose disproportionate compliance burdens on US companies.The US submission follows....
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