Still squabbles for social media. Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison is introducing new libel laws, which would force platforms to reveal the identity of the trolls. Or to pay the fine for defamation. Legislation has reportedly found social platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, to be responsible for defamatory comments against users. But let’s find out something more.
Troll: Australian minister Morrison proposes a law on social media
Australian Minister Morrison has decided to limit the actions of trolls on social media, through the proposal of a law that forces platforms to create a complaints system for users who feel they are victims of defamation. Furthermore, the platform will have to ask the person who posted the defamatory content to remove it. And in the event that this refuses, or the user affected by defamation is interested in pursuing legal action, the social network can ask you to reveal your contact information.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that Australian law could give tech giants the ability to reveal the identity of a user without permission. And if the social media platforms are unable to identify the troll, or if they refuse to do so, then the parent company will pay for the defamatory comments against users. But this would only apply to trolls located in Australia, as the law only affects Morrison’s home country. “The online world shouldn’t be a wild west where bots, bigots, trolls and others go around anonymously and can harm people. It’s not what can happen in the real world, and there’s no reason why it can happen in the digital world. ” So commented the minister.
As reported by ABC News Australia, a draft of the “anti-troll” legislation it is scheduled for this week, although it will probably not reach Parliament until early next year. At the moment, however, we still don’t know what specific details the platforms should collect and disclose. Nor do we know how serious the crime of defamation should be to allow social networks to reveal the identity of the bot. In the future, however, we will have more news on Australian legislation, part of a much broader project to revise defamation laws.