Australia moves to ban AI chatbots that pose as a child's best friend
A new digital duty of care bill would force apps to stop chatbots from fostering emotional dependence in kids, but its path through the Senate is still uncertain.
What happened: Australia's House of Representatives passed a digital duty of care bill that would make tech platforms legally responsible for keeping users safe, instead of relying on a patchwork of existing codes. During debate, the government accepted an amendment from independent MP Kate Chaney adding a new rule: AI chatbots cannot simulate 'emotional intimacy' in ways that encourage a child to depend on them instead of real human relationships. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pushed for the change after describing cases of children calling chatbots their 'best friend.' The bill now heads to the Senate, where the Coalition has said it will vote no.
Why it matters: This is one of the first attempts by a national government to legally define and restrict a specific design pattern in AI companion apps, rather than just regulating content categories like violence or misinformation. It treats a chatbot's ability to bond with a lonely or young user as a harm in itself, on the same list as material promoting misogyny, terrorism, suicide and eating disorders. If it passes, it could become a reference point for other countries weighing how to handle AI companions marketed to, or quietly adopted by, children.
How it works, plainly: The bill sets an overarching 'duty of care' obligation on social media, games, apps and chatbots to keep their platforms safe, replacing narrower existing rules. Platforms would also have to offer an easy-to-find opt-out from algorithmic and suggested content feeds. The chatbot rule specifically targets products built or used to create ongoing emotional attachment that substitutes for human relationships, though the bill does not spell out exactly which products or features would count as crossing that line.
The rollout: The government wants the bill passed by the end of 2026, but the Senate outcome is unclear. The Greens back it but want stronger penalties and a right for Australians to sue platforms directly; their Senate inquiry reports back in late November. Independent MP Sophie Scamps wanted the telecommunications ombudsman given power to field complaints about social media and AI, similar to how it already handles phone and internet disputes. Labor rejected that in the House, though the ombudsman herself says her office could take on the role, funded by industry, and the Greens plan to push for it in the Senate.