Just two weeks before Anthony Albanese is expected to travel to New York to promote Australia’s digital regulations, the Trump administration has reiterated its warning against foreign nations targeting American tech companies.
The Prime Minister has declared he won’t be deterred as he prepares to pitch his tech agenda to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
It comes as the United States issued a scathing response to the PM’s recently announced “Digital Duty of Care” under the Online Safety Act which will threaten US tech giants with more than $100 million fines if they don’t comply.
The move is designed to place the onus on platforms to make the internet safer for Australians of all ages and includes forcing companies — like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and Elon Musk’s X — to offer their users the ability to “opt in” or “opt out” of algorithms under a “My Feed, My Way” initiative.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Australian Financial Review in a statement on Wednesday that the President had “unequivocally warned trading partners against imposing digital services taxes, fines, and other forms of extortion on America’s leading technology sector”.
“The administration remains committed to raising these issues with our trading partners,” Mr Desai stated.
The Albanese government will impose charges on US tech giants for hosting Australian news on their platforms under its recently passed News Media Bargaining Code.
During a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday, Mr Albanese talked up his relationship with Donald Trump as “indeed very good” and said he looked forward to the pair meeting during his US visit.
“Look, we’re a sovereign nation, we decide our policies based upon the Australian national interest,” Mr Albanese said.
“I as Prime Minister will do that regardless of what the issue is.
“But my relationship with the US President is indeed very good and I look forward to seeing President Trump in New York in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Communications Minister Anika Wells dismissed the White House response as a “broad statement” about their ongoing position and insisted the PM would stand up for Australians regardless.
“The Prime Minister, as you heard at the press conference yesterday, makes no apologies about standing up for Australian children and Australian parents and trying to keep them safer online,” she told News24 on Wednesday.
“I haven’t been approached by the US Consul General on this topic in my time as Minister for Communications.
“Like the Prime Minister said, we’re a sovereign nation. We have the right to defend Australian parents and kids, and we’ll do that.”
Mr Albanese had championed his under-16s social media ban at last year’s UN General Assembly, which about 20 countries have adopted or moved to adopt since Australia’s crackdown.
The PM has also vowed to use this year’s appearance at the international forum to spruik Australia’s approach to managing AI growth and data centre expansion.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
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