On Thursday, Australian Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison said he would urge world leaders at the G20 Summit to take more decisive action against social media platforms for destroying young lives with their “vile rubbish.” The Summit will be held over the weekend in Rome under Italy’s presidency.
Morrison aims for digital accountability and to hold social media platforms accountable for targeting vulnerable people and trolling. While talking to reporters, he called social media platforms “publishers” instead of platforms as they allow people to post “vile rubbish” anonymously with impunity. “That is not freedom of speech, that is just cowardice, and we cannot have that turn out on our social media platforms to Australians in this country,” he said.
Morrison said Australia would lead the charge against the social media platforms with New Zealand and France after the Christchurch massacre in March 2019, when an Australian gunman killed 51 and injured 49 and live-streamed the incident on Facebook.
The Australian PM said he would also ensure that terrorists don’t misuse these platforms. “They’re still being used as a weapon right now, destroying the mental health of our young people, destroying lives, and it’s just not on in this country,” he said. However, Morrison is yet to reveal how he plans to hold social media platforms accountable.
The crackdown on social media would allow citizens using anonymous accounts to troll or defame somebody to be named and brought to the courts.
In an interview earlier this week, Morrison accused social media companies of collecting data and using it to target and bombard people, particularly kids. He said, “So I’m off to the G20 tonight before going to Glasgow. And one of the issues I’m going to be raising is these platforms are going to be treated like publishers, and we can’t have all of these trolls online. If you want to go and say something online, well, you’ve got to say who you are.”
Australian Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce echoed similar sentiments and said the government is serious about the reform.
The Australian government recently introduced online privacy legislation that makes it mandatory for social media platforms to seek parental consent to collect data for users below 16. If the bill is converted into law, it will make Australia one of the most stringent countries in terms of age controls for social media. This new legislation forms part of the Australian government’s effort to rein in social media platforms and hold them accountable for content published on their platform. Failure to comply with these laws could result in heavy penalties.
Australia’s push for greater accountability on the part of social media companies comes on the back of revelations by Frances Haugen, a former product manager on the civic misinformation team at Facebook, that the social media giant has repeatedly chosen ‘profit over safety’ when it comes to clamping down on misinformation and hate speech. Haugen also alleged that Facebook aided in the organisation of the January 6 Capitol riot by failing to curb hate speech against Joe Biden.
Furthermore, this is not Morrison’s first tussle with Facebook. Back in February of this year, Australia imposed the Media Bargaining Code, which would compel digital companies to pay local publishers for using their news stories. It temporarily resulted in several Australian charities, humanitarian organisations, and government agencies, including health sites, having their content blocked on Facebook.
Australian PM Morrison to Push for Social Media Reforms at G20 Summit
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hopes to introduce social media reforms, which would allow countries to hold social media platforms accountable for content published on their platforms.
October 29, 2021
SOURCE: THE JAPAN TIMES