Australia’s New Law Holds Social Media Platforms Accountable for Trolls

Australia is planning to introduce legislation to regulate and identify defamatory social media posts. Tech giants who manage social media platforms will be required to report such posts to authorities.

The government aims to make such platforms responsible for the usage and issuing of defamatory posts. The new law comes into effect after it was decided that top corporations such as Facebook and Twitter should be held liable for damaging posts put up by users on their platforms.

Morrison said at a televised press briefing, “The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people. This is not what can happen in the real world, and there is no case for it to be able to be happening in the digital world.”

A new complaint mechanism will be established where anyone who thinks they are being targeted or defamed on the social media platform will be able to ask the platform to remove the material. In the event where the material is not taken down, a court process can be initiated to force the social media company to remove the defamatory posts.

Morrison further said, “Digital platforms, these online companies, must have proper processes to enable the takedown of this content. They have created the space and they need to make sure it is safe, and if hey wont, we will make them through such laws such as this.”

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