How the ‘digital duty of care’ bill could undermine vital sex and drug education online

This week the Australian government will introduce its landmark Digital Duty of Care Bill to parliament. The bill aims to make platforms legally responsible for creating a “safe online environment” protecting users from “seriously harmful material and conduct”.

In the wake of recent controversies – including lawsuits in the United States accusing powerful platforms such as Meta of not doing enough to protect their users – this looks like a long overdue correction. But it’s not that simple.

One section of the bill defines “material or conduct that encourages, promotes, urges or instructs” illicit drug use and some kinds of sexual activity as “seriously harmful” to both adults and young people.

But this definition is fundamentally flawed. Here’s how it could actually undermine the government’s own strategies to reduce Australians’ risk of harm.

Harm-reduction work is a longstanding, fundamental component of Australia’s public health strategies. For decades, government-funded organisations have provided vital information to ensure people engage in safer drug use and sexual activity.

This requires a non-judgemental approach that meets people where they’re at. Social media content moderation systems often mistake this content for promotion. But harm reduction has been proven to save lives, preventing overdose deaths, alongside sexually transmissible infections and blood-borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis C.

We already know that harm-reduction content is being blocked and removed by social platforms’ existing moderation practices.

A 2024 review found that Meta, TikTok and Snapchat are prohibiting content that shows drug use, with no exemptions for harm-reduction information. Often, moderation is in the form of a shadow ban, meaning content is hidden from others without notification or recourse.

Platforms already treat harm-reduction information as drug promotion. Australian government-funded drug checking services have had posts removed, accounts suspended and, in some cases, entire pages and personal accounts permanently deleted by Meta’s and TikTok’s automated moderation systems.

Public health drug alerts – which warn people of concerning and potentially life-threatening substances in circulation – have been flagged as “promoting” drug use. For example, last summer Pill Testing Australia warned about strong MDMA and nitazenes circulating ahead of Canberra’s Spilt Milk festival. But the warnings were removed from social media three days before the event, and the group’s appeals to have the posts reinstated were rejected.

These alerts are not only essential warnings for people who use drugs. They also help health workers such as paramedics and emergency departments in their role as first responders. In this context, content removal poses very real dangers and puts lives at risk.

In 2023, the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) launched the social media campaign “Can’t Pass It On” on YouTube and Meta platforms.