The Australian Union Conference has joined Christian leaders across the nation in urging the federal government to withdraw and redraft proposed online safety legislation, citing concerns about its potential impact on religious freedom.

The joint letter supports action to protect Australians, particularly children, from harmful online material. However, it argues that the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 is too broad and lacks adequate safeguards for lawful religious expression.

The proposed legislation would require online service providers to take reasonable steps to protect users from online harm. The government says the reforms would establish minimum safety standards for services including games, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence chatbots. Providers that fail to comply could face penalties of up to $AU109.2 million (approximately $US76.5 million).

Christian leaders are concerned that substantial penalties, combined with what they describe as uncertain definitions of harm, could encourage technology companies to remove or restrict lawful religious content.

“Lawful teaching should not be suppressed simply because it is controversial or because some people characterize it as harmful,” the letter states.

It identifies preaching, worship, religious education, and discussion of doctrine as areas that could be affected. While the bill expressly protects certain categories of news, research, artistic, and educational material, the leaders say religious teaching and discussion are not expressly included.

The letter also raises concerns about potential compliance obligations for churches, religious schools, charities, and other faith organizations operating websites or online services.

It warns that requirements to assess risks, retain records, and implement measures to reduce harm could place a significant burden on smaller organizations whose websites are maintained by volunteers or part-time staff.

Other concerns include the lack of clear rights for content creators to be notified when material is restricted, receive an explanation, or obtain an independent review.

Leaders acknowledge improvements made since the bill’s exposure draft, including the removal of a ministerial power to add new categories of harmful material. However, they say substantial concerns remain.

They are calling for more tightly defined categories of serious harm, explicit protections for religious expression, transparent content moderation decisions, and an effective legal right of review.

The letter also urges the government to exclude genuinely low-risk religious and community websites from the obligations or substantially simplify their requirements.

Kojo Akomeah, director of the Australian Union Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department, said the department continues to seek opportunities to engage with the Australian Government on the bill. He urged church members to pray about the situation.

“This legislation has far-reaching consequences for our communication and sharing of the hope that we have in Jesus,” he said.

“As a Church that has served to advance religious freedom across the world, it is important that we add our voice to other voices that are calling for protection of religious expression.”

The original article was published on the South Pacific Division news site.