The Trump administration tells Australia that proposed “digital duty of care” laws to improve online safety could be seen as “viewpoint-based censorship.” In submissions to the Australian government’s public consultation process, the US says the approach may affect how Americans’ speech is protected when applied to large platforms operating online.
The US expresses “serious concerns” about giving Australia’s communications minister legal powers to determine what counts as “foreseeable harm,” and argues that the policy could amount to “extraterritorial censorship of protected speech by Americans online.” The submissions also call for American platforms to be exempted from the framework.
Australian outlets report that the US response is delivered through a formal communication from the US embassy in Canberra, focusing on free-speech implications and the risk of suppressing legitimate content. Across reports, the main emphasis is the US warning that the Australian regime could lead to censorship, while the underlying Australian goal remains strengthening online safety.
