SYDNEY, July 2 (Reuters) - Australia is giving the

internet industry six months to come up with an enforceable code

detailing how it will stop children seeing pornography and other

inappropriate material online or face having a code imposed on

it, a regulator said on Tuesday.

The eSafety Commissioner said it wrote to members of the

online industry demanding a plan by Oct. 3 setting out how they

plan to protect minors from seeing high-impact material before

they are ready, also including themes of suicide and eating

disorders.

The code should set standards for how app stores, websites

including pornography and dating websites, search engines,

social media platforms, chat services and even multi-player

gaming platforms check that content is suitable for users, the

commissioner said.

"Kids' exposure to violent and extreme pornography is a

major concern for many parents and carers, and they have a key

role to play," said Commissioner Julie Inman Grant in a

statement.

"But it can't all be on them. We also need industry to play

their part by putting in some effective barriers," she added.

The demand begins a second phase of industry codes overseen

by the regulator which previously endorsed codes covering how

internet companies stop the spread of terrorism or child sexual

exploitation content.

Measures covered by the code protecting children from

pornogrpahy could include age verification, default parental

controls and software which blurs or filters unwanted sexual

content, the regulator said.

A spokesperson for Google, a unit of Alphabet,

said the company would work closely with the industry on the new

code and a spokesperson for Facebook and Instagram owner Meta

said the company continued to engage constructively

with the eSafety commissioner.

Representatives of X, formerly Twitter, and app store

provider Apple ( AAPL ) were not immediately available for

comment.

A spokesperson for DIGI, an industry body which has most

large internet companies as members and worked on the first

round of codes, said it looked forward to continuing its

engagement with government and the eSafety commissioner.