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 | United States, Australia[explain status] |
| 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 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]
In 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 prompted 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] She dropped the case on 6 June, but stated that she would continue to pursue legal action against X in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. She also stated that her role in the federal court case led to her and her family being doxed and harassed online.[15]
As a consequence of the standoff Grant became dubbed an "e-Safety Karen" or "e-Karen".[16]
Personal life
[edit]Grant has three children and is married to Nick Grant, who is Australian.[2] She is an Australian citizen.[17]
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.
- ^ "Australian online watchdog drops court case against X over stabbing video". AP News. 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
- ^ "Australia's e-Safety Karen". 23 April 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ Grant, Julie [@tweetinjules] (4 October 2018). "I married Aussie, have 3 dinky die kids, am an 🇦🇺 citizen with high level security clearance" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 April 2024 – via Twitter.