SYLVIA JEFFREYS, HOST: Well, the Federal Government is shaping up for a battle over algorithms and accusations of censorship when Parliament resumes this week.

TOM STEINFORT, HOST: To discuss, we’re joined by Communications Minister Anika Wells in Canberra. Minister, good to see you. You’re calling for some tweaks to the teen social media ban tomorrow. Can you give us a snapshot of just how these tighter regulations would work?

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS ANIKA WELLS: Well, ten weeks ago we asked the Parliament to give the eSafety Commissioner more powers to go after big tech and equip her with more powers to hold them to account in the Federal Court. The Coalition and the Greens have been dawdling on this one. Australian parents needed these laws passed ten weeks ago, but we’re asking them to give us the amendments and get this through the Parliament this week.

JEFFREYS: OK, so for a company like Meta though, which is valued at more than two trillion Australian dollars, is a fine of $110 million going to be enough to act as a deterrent?

WELLS: Well, these companies tell us that they want to abide by Australian laws and that they want Australians to accept that they are doing the right thing. We think they’re taking the mickey and we want to give the eSafety Commissioner more powers so rather than them just telling her they’re doing the right thing, they’re going to have to show it. And we should be able to reference that against third parties like the age verification companies they use. These are sensible, common-sense amendments and we would like them done this week.

STEINFORT: So, your long-awaited draft digital duty of care laws, they’ll also be released this week. What can we expect there? Is this where the focus on the algorithm really comes into focus?

WELLS: This is about making sure there are basic safety standards from big tech the same way that there are basic safety standards from every other industry like cars or food or toys. And when you walk down the aisle at Big W and you see plastic toys or electronic toys or iPads, Australian parents should reasonably be able to expect that all those manufacturers have abided by basic safety standards when they’re selling something to your kids.

JEFFREYS: OK. But when it comes to the algorithm, will you be pushing for opt-in, which is what Chanel Contos from Teach Us Consent, has been asking for, or will you go for opt-out?

WELLS: I’ve been working on a way to give Australians more choice about what they see over their feeds. We want Australians to make that choice and we want social media companies to respect that choice and if they don’t, they’ll face big fines.

JEFFREYS: So will it be opt-in or opt-out?

WELLS: We’re going to work that through, and the exposure draft will be out this week.

STEINFORT: So, the main criticism from the opposition is that you’re basically trying to work towards censorship here. What do you say to those criticisms?

WELLS: This isn’t about censorship. This is about identifying risks or making big tech identify the risks on their own platform and making big tech mitigate against those risks on their platform. This is about making sure they do safety by design, basic safety standards that every other industry has to apply to their own products if they want to sell those products to Australians.

JEFFREYS: Who will be determining what is and what isn’t harmful content? Will it be you, Minister? Will it be the eSafety Commissioner? Who’s up to drawing those distinctions?

WELLS: All of these laws will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny, as you would expect. This is about, for adults, illegal content online and for Australian kids, it’s about serious harms and psychosocial harms. We’ll have more detail out for everybody this week, but it’s common-sense stuff. It’s exactly the kind of things you’d expect. Trying to prevent children from seeing pornography online, being groomed online. These problems, these spot fires we’ve had with Roblox and AI chatbots, a digital duty of care is designed to put the onus on big tech to make their own platforms safe.

STEINFORT: Now finally, before we let you go, a lot’s been made of your video where you used Ooshies to explain the housing crisis. You copped a fair bit of flack for this. Do you see why some people thought it was a bit patronising?

WELLS: I have for a long time used policy as pop culture explainers as a way to try and explain some of the things that we’re trying to do for Australians here in the Parliament. People don’t always like MAFS, people don’t always like Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, not everybody lives through the great Ooshie shortage of 2026. That’s fine, not all content is for everybody.

JEFFREYS: [Laughs] Fair enough, and when you’re done with those Ooshies, could I have some? Because my kids have none.

[Laughter]

JEFFREYS: See? I get it. You get it.

WELLS: It’s real. It’s just not real for everyone. I understand that.

STEINFORT: All right. Appreciate your time this morning Minister. Have a good one. Thank you.