There is a fresh push to crack harmful and misleading content on social media, but it comes with a catch.
The Australian Media Watchdog Gets New Power to Crack Harmful and Misleading Content on Social Media.
When re-elected, the Morrison government will introduce new laws into parliament that give the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) more regulatory power to combat false information and misinformation online.
Under the proposal, ACMA will be able to implement industry codes and hold tech giants accountable for deleting harmful or misleading information online when voluntary efforts are lacking.
It would also make it easier to assess the efficiency of self-regulation and help the government decide whether a mandatory code of practice needs to be introduced.
The consultation on the scope of the Authority’s new competences will begin in the coming weeks.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the new laws would complement the online security law, which came into force earlier this year.
“Digital platforms must take responsibility for what is on their site and act when harmful or misleading content appears,” he said.
“This is the clear expectation of our government, and just as we have supported this expectation with action and recently passed the new Online Security Act, we are taking action when it comes to misinformation and misinformation.”
A task force consisting of the private sector and government actors will be formed to advise on emerging issues and best practice responses.
It comes after an ACMA report, which was handed over to the government last June but made public on Monday, found 82 per cent of Australians had experienced misinformation about Covid-19 in the last 18 months.
Facebook had the largest share of reported Covid-19 false information, with more than a third of all Australians identifying the social platform as a source of false news.
WeChat has been reported to have the second highest level of reported misinformation among its users.
According to the authority, adult Gen Z respondents were more than three times more likely than baby boomers to rely on social media for news and information about Covid-19 as well as three times more likely to be “highly misinformed”.
But older Australians were more likely to report that they did not know if they had found false information.
The report made five recommendations that were welcomed by the government.
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