Tech Giants Slammed for Ignoring Child Abuse on Platforms

According to a report released on August 5, 2025, Australia's eSafety Commissioner has accused the world's largest social media companies of neglecting the issue of online child sex abuse material on their platforms. The regulator says YouTube and Apple, in particular, have failed to track the number of user reports they receive about such content and could not provide details on their response times.

The Australian government has decided to include YouTube in its social media ban for teenagers, following the eSafety Commissioner's advice to overturn the platform's planned exemption. "When left to their own devices, these companies aren't prioritizing the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services," said Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

The report found a "range of safety deficiencies" on the services of major tech firms like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and others, which increase the risk of child exploitation and abuse material appearing on their platforms. These include failures to detect and prevent livestreaming of such content or block links to known abuse material, as well as inadequate reporting mechanisms.

The regulator stated that some providers had not made improvements to address these safety gaps despite being put on notice in previous years. The eSafety Commissioner has now mandated these companies to report on the measures they are taking to address child exploitation and abuse in Australia.