By Staff Writer
The Australian Government plans to introduce legislation that will require social media companies to unveil anonymous online trolls. The Government says the proposed legislation will be among the toughest in the world in terms of holding trolls and social media platforms to account.
Counting on bipartisan support, Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to introduce the legislation into Parliament this week.
“Social media can too often be a cowards’ palace, where the anonymous can bully, harass and ruin lives without consequence,” the Prime Minister said on the weekend.
“We cannot allow social media platforms to provide a shield for anonymous trolls to destroy reputations and lives. We cannot allow social media platforms to take no responsibility for the content on their platforms. They cannot enable it, disseminate it, and wash their hands of it. This has to stop.”
How exactly the legislation would work is unknown, but the Prime Minister and his ministers did provide some clues.
The Government wants social media platforms to establish a quick and standardised complaints system that allows a complaint to be lodged. The platform will then notify the troll, giving that person the chance to remove the offending material.
However, if that doesn’t occur or the trolling was so egregious the complainant wants to take the matter further, the complainant can ask the social media platform for contact and identifying information to reveal who posted the offending material.
Key to the legislation is a new Federal Court order requiring social media companies to disclose identifying details of trolls to victims without consent, which will enable a defamation case to be lodged.
“You should not be able to use the cloak of online anonymity to spread your vile, defamatory comments,” Attorney General Michaela Cash said.
The proposed legislation is a response to the recent Voller High Court case that confirmed an organisation or person opening a site or post to comments by others may be liable for any defamation. Michaela Cash says that is neither fair nor right.
“Australians expect to be held accountable for their own actions but shouldn’t be made to pay for the actions of others that they cannot control,” the Attorney General says.
“The reforms will make clear that, in defamation law, Australians who operate or maintain a social media page are not ‘publishers’ of comments made by others.”
The legislation will let social media platforms off the defamation hook if they agree to hand over information revealing the troller’s identity. How that person’s identity is established appears to be up to the social media company.
The Australian Government appears to be on safe ground with this legislation. The opposition has indicated it will support legislation promoting a safer online environment.
A recent survey by research company Resolve Strategic reveals two-thirds of Australians believe social media companies should be held responsible for what’s posted on their platforms, while 70% of those surveyed say online trolls should be unmasked.
The Government says they will release an exposure draft of the legislation in the coming week. The draft will allow for feedback from stakeholders, including social media platforms.
