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| Australia Threatens Fines for Social Media Firms Over Misinformation |
Australia has announced that it will fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to stop misinformation from circulating on their products.
The decision is part of a global backlash against sprawling tech companies, but pro-free speech advocates deplore it.
According to the government, tech platforms must also establish codes of practice detailing the steps to limit the spread of harmful misinformation and have them signed off by a regulator. If any platform fell short, the regulator would set its benchmark and penalize companies that failed to meet it.
Under the new bill, false material that endangers election integrity or public health, encourages hatred of a group, harms an individual, or threatens damage to essential infrastructure and emergency services would be punished.
The bill is part of a series of broad regulatory changes proposed by Australia. Its leaders have claimed that foreign tech platforms without domestic bases are acting irresponsibly, threatening the nation's sovereignty. The bill comes ahead of a federal election due within 12 months.
Facebook's owner, Meta, has already warned it will simply stop publishing professional news if they have to pay royalties. At the same time, X (formerly Twitter) is only a husk of itself since billionaire Elon Musk bought the company in 2022 and dramatically scaled back its already blunt content moderation.
Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said: "Misinformation and disinformation are significantly harmful to Australians, as well as our democracy, society, and economy. '[T]o do nothing and let this rot is not an option.'
An earlier version of this bill was also knocked in 2023 for having the Australian Communications and Media Authority be more robust to determine what it thought was misinformation and disinformation, a term for when someone is caught lying on purpose.
Rowland said the new bill stipulated that the media regulator would not be able to require the removal of specific content or user accounts. This version of the bill also came with a few loopholes; it would only protect professional news, artistic, and religious content and not government-authorized content.
Quoting the Australian Media Literary Alliance, he said about 80% of Australians wanted to curb fake news.
Meta, which has almost nine in 10 Australians using Facebook, declined to comment. Industry body DIGI, of which Meta is a member, said the new regime squared with an anti-misinformation code it had strengthened only last year but added there were still many unanswered questions.
Labor home affairs spokesman Kristina Keneally said the revised bill would be studied in detail. Still, she warned against infringing on "genuine, legitimate political discussion" and that "no Australian should have their legitimate political views moderated either by government or by foreign social media companies."
The Australia Communications and Media Authority released a statement saying it "welcomes legislation to provide it with a formal regulatory role to combat misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms."