Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that Australia will be drafting new legislation and laws. It will require social media companies to share information about users who make defamatory comments.
The country’s top court determined that publishers will be accountable for public remarks on online forums. Also, the government has been looking into the extent of platforms’ accountability for defamatory content uploaded on their sites.
As a result of the verdict, some news organizations, such as CNN, have blocked Australians from accessing their Facebook sites.
“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. That is not what can happen in the real world; there is no case for it to be able to be happening in the digital world,” Morrison said at a televised press briefing.
Australia and its new laws and legislation would likewise include a complaints procedure. Thereby, allowing those who believe they are being defamed, bullied, or insulted on social media to demand that the item be removed from the network.
If the social media platform does not remove the content, a court may order it to reveal the commenter’s identity.
“Digital platforms – these online companies – must have proper processes to enable the takedown of this content,” Morrison said.
“They have created the space and they need to make it safe; and if they won’t, we will make them (through) laws such as this.”