REACHOUT, Beyond Blue, and Black Dog Institute are supporting the Federal Government's decision to introduce a new duty-of-care regulation holding social media companies accountable for user safety.
The regulation mandates that platforms take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harms, implement ongoing risk mitigation, and adopt safety-by-design principles.
The decision aligns with recommendations from a joint submission by the three organisations, urging for adoption of safety-by-design principles on social media.
Prof Samuel Harvey, Black Dog Institute's Executive Director, said, "these changes are being made to improve the mental health of young Australians - we need to embed research and evaluation from the start to understand their impact".
ReachOut CEO Gary Groves highlighted the importance of proactive safety measures, saying "the current regulatory approach largely addresses harms after the fact".
He welcomed the new regulation's potential to prevent harm before it occurs.
Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman commented that "social media companies need to take responsibility for their products".
She emphasised that the regulation, grounded in prevention, is a critical step towards addressing the influence of big tech, bringing Australia in line with similar efforts in the UK and Europe.
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