As per the new laws, the Australian media regulator will have the authority to make the internet companies share their data on how the technology companies have handled misinformation and disinformation. The move is with the view to bolster the government’s efforts to rein the spread of fake news and information.
The government said on Monday that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will also be able to enforce the internet industry code on the companies that do not cooperate. The move comes when multiple countries around the world are trying to reduce the spread of false and harmful information online.
The planned laws are in a response to an ACMA investigation that had found that around 80 percent of the Australian adults had experienced misinformation about COVID-19 and almost 76 percent felt that digital platforms should take concrete steps to bring down the amount of false and misleading content available online.
Europe too has formulated a similar set of rules that are due to take effect by the end of 2022. However, the European Union is planning to bring in even tougher measures to stop the disinformation that has been presented by the Russian state-owned media in relation to the Ukrainian crisis.
The Australian Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said in a statement that the digital platforms must take responsibility for what is posted on their sites and should take action when harmful or misleading content is found.
The misleading and false content was very commonly found on services by larger companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, the ACMA said.
The statement further added that the false narratives generally began with highly emotional and engaging posts within a small online conspiracy group and were greatly intensified by the international influencers, local public figures, and also by coverage in the media.
The AMCA said in the statement that the conspiracy groups often requested people to join smaller platforms that have looser moderation policies, such as the Telegram. If these smaller platforms reject the content guidelines set for the industry, they may present a higher risk to the Australian community, the ACMA further said.
DIGI, an Australian industry body that represents Facebook, Google, Twitter and TikTok, said that it supports the suggestions and said that it has already set up a system to process the complaints it receives on misinformation.
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