Australian Government Wants to Rush Through New Laws for Social Media Platforms

Much to the dismay of the tech industry, the Australian government is rushing through new laws targeting social media platforms for hosting violent material online. Australian attorney-general Christian Porter said the Christchurch terror attack shows that social media needs to be scrutinized. The gunman had live streamed himself killing 50 people at the two mosques.

The Australian government plans to implement hefty fines and even imprisonment for social media executives whose companies fail to immediately remove the ‘abhorrent and violent’ terrorism-related content from their respective platforms. Companies would be breaking the Australian law if they did not take down the footage of terrorist acts.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor has serious concerns about the bill as its been poorly drafted and will not achieve its intended purpose. He questioned the jailing powers the government claims it provides.

The Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI) which represents Google, Facebook and Twitter in Australia labeled the legislation as unhelpful and inappropriate for a democracy like Australia. Sunita Bose, the group’s managing director said they have been working with the government and intelligence agencies to address the issue. “It is therefore concerning that this legislation has been announced with the Government planning to rush it through parliament in just three days without any meaningful consultation with the digital industry, security, legal and technical experts, the intelligence community, the media and civil society, and ahead of its own first Government Taskforce meeting to address the issue on Friday.” Bose said they want all online spaces to be safe and respectful. “Announcing measures such as jailing staff at social media companies is inappropriate for a democracy such as Australia.”

Other critics have said it makes it impossible to prevent all objectionable content from appearing online. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO said he supported a bigger role for governments and regulators in defining the rules that police online content. He said they need a more standardized approach.