Julie Inman Grant
Julie Inman Grant | |
|---|---|
| eSafety Commissioner | |
| In office January 2017 – present | |
| Preceded by | Alastair MacGibbon[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1968 or 1969 (age 55–56) Seattle, Washington, United States[2] |
| Citizenship | Australia |
| Website | www |
Julie Inman Grant (born 1968 or 1969) is an American-born[2][3] Australian public servant who is currently serving as the eSafety Commissioner, a role in which she leads Australia's independent regulator for online safety.
Career[edit]
After graduating from university in the early 1990s, Grant was offered a position as a "case agent with the CIA", but declined the offer as it meant "I wouldn't be able to tell my friends and family what I was doing". Grant subsequently started working in the public sector as a policy adviser for United States Congressman John Miller in 1991 and 1992.[2]
From 1995 to 2000, Grant worked as a government affairs manager for Microsoft. In 2000, Grant moved to Australia,[2] and became head of corporate affairs at Microsoft until 2004.[4]
In 2005, Grant became the Asia-Pacific director of internet safety, privacy and security at Microsoft,[5] serving in that capacity until 2009 when she became global director for safety and privacy policy and outreach.[6][4][7]
In 2014, Grant became director of public policy in Australia and south-east Asia at Twitter.[2][4] In 2016, Grant moved to the role of director of government relations in the Asia-Pacific region at Adobe.[6][4]
Role as eSafety Commissioner (2017–present)[edit]
In January 2017, Grant was appointed by the Australian government as the national eSafety Commissioner,[8] a position established in July 2015 by the government of former Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott, under the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Act 2015.[9][10] In January 2022, Grant was reappointed in her Commissioner role for a further 5 years.[6]
On April 2024, Grant ordered X and Meta to remove footage of the stabbing of Mar Mari Emmanuel.[11] The order was met with resistance from Elon Musk and prompts a protracted debate about free speech, with Musk refusing to delete the videos although it had blocked the content in Australia.[12][13] A two-day injunction to compel X to hide posts that include the footage of the attack was later extended to 10 May 2024.[14]
Controversy[edit]
In 2022, sex work advocacy groups accused Grant of attempting to filibuster her own consultation process on introducing age verification for online porn by talking about herself for most of the allotted time; an inflated introduction she only gave when sex worker organisations showed up to speak, leaving them not enough time to give their submissions properly.[15]
Personal life[edit]
Grant has three children and is married to Nick Grant, who is Australian.[2] She is an Australian citizen.[16]
References[edit]
- ^ "Social media sites face $17,000 fine for failing to remove offensive material". ABC News. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Scarr, Lanai (28 April 2018). "Julie Inman Grant on how she'll battle cyberbullying and why she turned down a job with the CIA". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Lunn, Stephen (8 February 2022). "E-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant and the battle to civilise cyberspace". The Australian. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
Seattle-born Inman Grant, 51, has worked at the intersection of cyber safety, public policy and technology since her early days in government relations for Microsoft.
- ^ a b c d "Julie Inman-Grant | LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Old scam after personal data". The Daily Examiner. 9 June 2010. p. 5.
- ^ a b c "About the Commissioner". eSafety Commissioner. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Grant, Julie Inman (24 November 2022). "Web 3 Podcast" (Interview). Interviewed by Nick Abrahams. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022.
I actually brought the concept of Safety by Design to Microsoft over 10 years ago when I was their head of global privacy and safety policy and outreach.
- ^ Calixto, Julia (23 November 2016). "Govt to crack down on revenge porn". SBS News. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Swan, David (19 March 2015). "Australia gets its first Children's e-Safety Commissioner". The Australian. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ Enhancing Online Safety for Children Act 2015 (Cth)
- ^ Taylor, Josh; Rachwani, Mostafa; Beazley, Jordyn (16 April 2024). "eSafety commissioner orders X and Meta to remove violent videos following Sydney church stabbing". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Convery, Stephanie (26 April 2024). "X pushes back at order to hide Sydney church stabbing footage as US user reposts video". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Conger, Kate (24 April 2024). "Elon Musk Clashes With Australian Court Over Violent Videos on X". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Josh; Butler, Josh (22 April 2024). "Australian court orders Elon Musk's X to hide Sydney church stabbing posts from users globally". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Buckley, John (15 February 2022). "Sex Workers Say They're Being Silenced by the Government on Age Verification Plans". Vice News. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Grant, Julie [@tweetinjules] (October 3, 2018). "I married Aussie, have 3 dinky die kids, am an 🇦🇺 citizen with high level security clearance" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 April 2024 – via Twitter.