Regulating online safety: A chat with Australia eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant

02/20/25 • 37 min

Australia made waves in 2024 after it passed an amendment to the Online Safety Act of 2021, which introduces a legal minimum age of 16 to create and use an account for certain social media platforms in Australia. It also requires platforms within scope to implement age-gating practices.

As Australia’s first eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, whose agency administers the Online Safety Act and the Social Media Minimum Age amendment, has been at the forefront of regulating online safety since her appointment in 2017. With a background in the private sector, including stints at Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe, Inman-Grant has a wide-ranging view of the online space and the harms within it.

IAPP Editorial Director Jedidiah Bracy recently caught up with Commissioner Inman-Grant to discuss her work in online safety, what’s currently underway regarding age-gating requirements for social media and the effects AI will have for online safety and harms.

Previous Episode

US state AI legislation in 2025: A discussion with Connecticut State Sen. James Maroney

Though it came close in recent years, federal privacy legislation is not likely top of mind as a new administration takes the reigns in Washington, DC. The same likely goes for federal AI governance and safety legislation with a divided Congress and executive branch that promotes a deregulatory posture.

That means state-level privacy and AI bills will proliferate in 2025. Connecticut was the 5th U.S. state to a pass comprehensive privacy law, and Connecticut State Senator James Maroney played a large role in crafting his state's bill.

Maroney is now working on AI legislation and takes part in the Future of Privacy Forum’s Multistate AI Policymaker Working Group, which comprises more than 200 bipartisan state lawmakers and other government officials, with the aim to “foster a shared understanding of emerging technologies and related policy issues.” IAPP Editorial Director Jedidiah Bracy recently caught up with Maroney to discuss his work on privacy, his experience working with other policymakers in the multistate working group, and what to expect from AI legislation in Connecticut this coming year.

Next Episode

On privacy and technology with Dan Solove

Privacy law and technological advancements have a deep and intertwined history that go back to at least the 1890s with Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis's article "The Right to Privacy," which was prompted by camera technology.

George Washington University Law Professor Dan Solove has long studied and written about privacy law. He published several well-known books including "Nothing to Hide: The False Trade Off Between Privacy and Security" and co-authored "Privacy Law Fundamentals," which is published by the IAPP.

Solove recently published a new book, "On Privacy and Technology." IAPP Editorial Director Jedidiah Bracy caught up with Solove just before the book was published to discuss it and whether the regulation-versus-innovation trade-off is a fallacy, why the notice-and-choice paradigm hasn't worked for consumers, and where the future will take privacy, AI, and cybersecurity law and regulation.