Transcript - Sky News AM Agenda - 17 September 2025

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

17 September 2025

EO&E …

Interview

Sky News AM Agenda with Laura Jayes

Topics: Social media minimum age; eSafety Commissioner. 

Laura Jayes 

Joining me live now is Shadow Communications Minister, Melissa McIntosh, she joins me here at the desk. Great to see you.

Melissa McIntosh

Thank you.

Laura Jayes

What is your biggest concern about this legislation?

Melissa McIntosh

I've got a number of concerns that I've actually raised with the eSafety Commissioner directly. But first and foremost, this is about protecting kids. And we can't forget that there's some harrowing stories. I met with families who've lost children to social media harm, and that's really heart wrenching stuff. So, at the heart of it, we want what's in place to work. But there's questions around the powers of the eSafety Commissioner, the unintended consequences. There's certain measures that platforms have to use, but at the - sort of buried in the trickery of the communications is there's potential for digital ID to be used.

Laura Jayes

So that's just central concern. Is it?

Melissa McIntosh

It's a concern because people's identification gets stored in data ...

Laura Jayes

Do we know that though because the eSafety Commissioner said that yesterday that that's not true. She addressed that very issue.

Melissa McIntosh

It's not that it's not true, it's that it wouldn't be used as the primary source of identifying somebody's age. So, you could use measures like if somebody's had a Facebook account for less 10 years, they might not be age or what they're searching online. So, there's other means, first and foremost. But she does have the power to mandate digital ID if she chooses to. And if it's, you know, if all other measures fail platforms could use digital ID. That's - it is in the report and that is a measure that could be used.

Laura Jayes

So, what are you concerned about exactly then? Like TikTok storing biometric data, people's faces.

Melissa McIntosh

Yeah, well it's about, well you might need your healthcare card, any, it's actually mentioned in the report; healthcare card could be used. And when we put the agreed for the legislation to go through, it was under the proviso that digital ID would not be used. And many Australians, most Australians do not want their digital ID to be used.

Laura Jayes

Yeah, but that's not really at the top of the list. I understand that it's a concern in the periphery, but what it seems to be happening is these tech giants, like Google for example, indicating that they can use facial recognition and other means to identify people. They've been doing it for quite some time in terms of age verification.

Melissa McIntosh

Yeah, well, that's all well and good, but it's still there. So even though it might not be used now, there's still the capability and your data has to be stored somewhere.

Laura Jayes

Does it?

Melissa McIntosh

And it does have to be stored by these tech giants. So it’ll be in a data centre and most of the data centres are offshore.

Laura Jayes

So, it doesn't have to be stored because there's some equivocation about whether it is stored in a data centre or whether it's just a one-time use thing.

Melissa McIntosh

It depends. This is where the complexity of the language is. It could be. So, there could be those means, but there could be potential for the data. And that's one of the issues. It's worth raising.

Laura Jayes

Without this legislation, it seems like the tech giants are trying to get ahead of this themselves anyway.

Melissa McIntosh

Yeah, I think so.

Laura Jayes

Do you have concerns about what they're doing anyway?

Melissa McIntosh

I mean, Julie Inman Grant said yesterday, Google put in a blog that they're going to use age verification for YouTube right around the world. So how would that work?

Melissa McIntosh

Well, I spoke to YouTube, as YouTube was looking at being included in this, and we were looking at ways where right now, if you're 13 and under, it's parental controls and they would be willing to extend that to 16 and under as an alternate measure. So, the tech, we all know that the tech giants do have the capability to, through their technology, to do everything that is required of them. That's what we're hoping and that's not what my beef is with it. It's that the powers of the eSafety Commissioner and I don't want it to get to a stage where Australians are so (discontinued).

Laura Jayes

Your beef isn’t with the power of the eSafety Commissioner or is it?

Melissa McIntosh

It is. I don't want it to get to a stage where Australians (discontinued).

Laura Jayes

Who do you want to have that power then?

Melissa McIntosh

She's an unelected official and she's not answerable to the Australian public. She actually has quite a significant amount of power and I don't want it to get to the stage where people, people were so fed up with their, using their digital ID that it impinges on children being safe.

Laura Jayes

Sure. So, what do you want to change exactly? You want her powers?

Melissa McIntosh

No, I would like us to have an inquiry into her power. So she was, and this is not a personal thing against her, this is about the role it was established 10 years ago when the world was a very different place. Technology has come a long way. I would like us to look at those powers and whether they're fit for purpose for right now.

Laura Jayes

So, she’s – so you're saying she can act with impunity without the behest of the government of the day?

Melissa McIntosh

If she's not answerable to the Minister, she includes the Minister and consults, but she does have powers through regulation of course.

Laura Jayes

So, what's the point in passing this legislation then, if she can act with the impunity?

Melissa McIntosh

Well, this legislation is something that was intended to, you know, give more power to the enforcement of what the intent of what we're trying to do.

Laura Jayes

But seriously, I don't understand, if she can act with the impunity, what's the point to have this legislation in the first place?

Melissa McIntosh

Well, this is where we're at. We have made a commitment before the election that the Coalition would support this, and the intention was to ensure that the big tech companies would be held to account and kids would be protected.

Laura Jayes

Yeah, okay, we don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good, but Melissa, what is your, you know, if you were in government were at now, what would you be doing?

Melissa McIntosh

Well, ensuring that it's done right. When I've spoken to these families, what they're concerned about is that the government's not going be ready on the tenth of December. And I've promised to them that I'll do everything I can to hold the government to account. We did sign up to this. There's no, getting away from that was a Peter Dutton policy, and we do want, we do want it to work, but they're concerned, they're going around to schools as part of their campaigning around keeping kids safe. Yep, and so kids in these schools are parents, students, the teachers aren't aware this is coming. There's no education campaign. We are not too far from December 10. If the government's committed to this, they've set this deadline. Well, they’ll need to make sure that the public's very aware of what is coming.

Laura Jayes

Okay, thanks so much.

Melissa McIntosh

Thank you.