Last week the Australian government released a bill to make it easier to crack down on anonymous trolls on social media.
The injured users could because of this Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill submit a complaint to the social media platform. The platform would then have to contact the trolls and notify them of the harmful comments. Some of the trolls would then delete the comments. If not, the platform would ask permission to transmit their contact details – i.e. name, email address and telephone number – to the injured party.
Those affected could also turn directly to a court, which would force the platform to pass on the trolls’ contact information in order to initiate legal action.
The prerequisite for the disclosure of personal data is that the comments come from Australia and that there is no risk to the security of the authors.
More protection for other people involved
In 2019, Dylan sued Voller, a former detainee in the Northern Territory, Australia, three media companies who posted negative, defamatory comments about him on their Facebook pages. Although the comments were written by third-party users and not the companies themselves, the High Court of Australia ruled in favor of Vollers in September 2021 and blamed the companies – they were “publishers” of the hate speech and were therefore responsible for it.
Something like that is supposed to be under the new one Social Media Bill can no longer happen. The law should clearly state that operators of social media pages or profiles are not “publishers” of defamatory posts and comments from third parties. This means that they could no longer be held liable for such content.
“Liability concerns could have a chilling effect on free speech as people who manage social media accounts, censor comments, or disable features for fear of being held responsible for defamation for content they didn’t post themselves.”
Next Steps
Australians have until January 21, 2022 to provide their feedback on the bill.
A few years ago, politicians began to revise the model provisions behind the defamation laws in the individual states and territories of Australia. This endeavor should remain a priority for the next year as well.
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Post picture: Patrick Tomasso / Unsplash
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