A Class Action Against Meta in Australia, and a Minister Looking for Allies Abroad. Here Is What Is Happening.

Two developments in Australia concern children’s online safety: a class action against Meta, and a minister’s effort to build an international coalition around a new online safety bill.

The class action against Meta

A class action has been filed in the Federal Court of Australia against Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram. The law firm MinterEllison filed the case, and press reports say it could be the first in Australia to blame social media for harming its users.

The claim is brought on behalf of eight plaintiffs who allege they were harmed by Meta while under the age of 18. According to press reports, the lawsuit alleges that the platforms exposed children to harmful content and kept them addicted through algorithms. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation.

Little more is public at this stage. In a suppression order issued on Monday, the court prohibited the reporting of any information that could reveal the identity of the applicants, as well as the statement of claim.

A Meta spokesperson said by email: “We are aware of this claim and we will defend ourselves vigorously.”

The push for a global alliance

Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells told Bloomberg News that she is working to form a worldwide coalition of countries to press tech companies such as Meta to reduce online harm. Bloomberg reported that children are being exposed to a growing range of harms, from sex and violence to predators and deepfakes.

The coalition would draw on a template Australia hopes to establish through the Digital Duty of Care Bill, proposed by the government recently. The bill would push digital service providers, from social media platforms to AI chatbots, to build safety measures into their products by design.

Wells said she wants to use the legislation to agree a set of basic online safety standards with other countries, particularly for children. She has held discussions with counterparts in Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, the UK and others, and more talks are planned in the coming weeks.

In her words: “It’s going to take a coalition of lawmakers working together across the globe to take them on.”

The context in Australia

Both developments follow other recent moves. Australia introduced a ban on social media for children under 16, described as a world first. The government has also proposed rules that would let users switch off algorithm-driven content in their feeds.

Meta has been under pressure elsewhere too. In August, it agreed to a settlement of about $18 billion with nearly all US states to resolve claims that it designed social media to addict children.

Fairpatterns detects the design mechanics that regulators and courts are examining automatically across platforms and at scale.