Australia collaborates with tech giants to block AI-generated child porn in search engines

Australia is taking steps to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in search engine results.

The country's internet regulator, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, on Friday, announced that the nation will now require search engines to ensure that such content doesn't make it to search results. To do this, Australia has developed a new code in collaboration with industry giants like Google and Bing.

Australia's new code against AI-generated child porn

Australia's new code, as per Reuters, will help ensure that search engines prevent the sharing of AI-generated child sexual abuse material. It will also require safeguards to prevent AI functions of search engines from producing synthetic versions (deepfakes) of such content in search results.

The rapid growth of generative AI technology has caught many "off guard," said Inman Grant.

"The use of generative AI has grown so quickly that I think it's caught the whole world off guard to a certain degree."

This code underscores how the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding internet platforms is evolving to address challenges posed by AI-generated lifelike content.

Citing Grant, Reuters reportedthat an earlier code drafted by Google and Bing did not cover AI-generated content. This prompted her to request a revised version that specifically addresses this issue.

"When the biggest players in the industry announced they would integrate generative AI into their search functions, we had a draft code that was clearly no longer fit for purpose. We asked the industry to have another go," said Inman Grant.

Best practices

The Digital Industry Group Inc, an Australian advocacy organisation that has Google as a member, expressed satisfaction with the regulator's approval of the new code. They highlighted that the code reflects recent developments in generative AI and establishes best practices to enhance community safeguards.

"We worked hard to reflect recent developments in relation to generative AI, codifying best practices for industry and providing further community safeguards," said the spokesperson.

Australia's e-Safety Commissioner registered safety codes for various internet services, including social media platforms and smartphone applications earlier this year. These are set to take effect in late 2023.

The regulator is reportedly also working on developing safety codes for internet storage and private messaging services. However, as per the news agency, these efforts have faced resistance from privacy advocates globally.

(With inputs from agencies)

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