Australia Moves to Stop AI Chatbots Posing as Children’s Best Friends

Australia’s lower house has voted to make AI chatbots stop building fake friendships with children. The Digital Duty of Care Bill passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday, with a late amendment aimed squarely at companion-style chatbots. Platforms that break the new duty could face fines of up to A$109.2 million. The bill still has to get through the Senate.

What the chatbot rule says

The amendment came from independent MP Kate Chaney and the government accepted it, Der Guardian berichtet. It adds a new harm to the list platforms must deal with: “material or conduct that simulates emotional intimacy and encourages or fosters a child’s dependence on it in place of human relationships”.

In plain terms, an AI app used by under-18s in Australia should not act like a best friend or partner in a way that pulls a child away from real people.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pushed the point in parliament on Tuesday. In his speech, he said social media, online games and AI chatbots “must protect under 18s from harmful content”. He also told MPs that stories of people calling a chatbot their best friend should be “a huge wake up call”.

The numbers in the bill

The bill places one broad legal duty on tech platforms to provide a safe online environment. According to the bill’s parliamentary record, it was introduced on 15 October and passed its third reading on 28 October, after 15 government and eight crossbench amendments were agreed.

Albanese set out what else it does. Companies must carry out risk assessments of their services. Users over 16 get tools to choose what they see in their feeds. “Nudify” apps, which use AI to fake nude images of real people, would be banned. Platforms would have 24 hours, down from 48, to respond to cyberbullying complaints. And the eSafety Commissioner, the national online-safety regulator, could go undercover to check compliance.

Australia has been tightening rules on AI abuse for a while. Its regulator investigated explicit AI deepfakes in 2024, and the new bill goes further by putting the burden on the platforms themselves.

What happens next

It is not law yet. The opposition Coalition voted against the bill, calling it censorship, which the government denies. That means Labor will likely need the Greens, who back the idea but want tougher penalties and the right for people to sue platforms. A Greens-led Senate inquiry is due to report in late November, and the government hopes to pass the bill by the end of 2026.

The plain reading: if it passes, Australia will be one of the first countries to write chatbot companionship into a child-safety law. Any AI company with young Australian users will have to show its app is not built to replace a child’s friends.