The Australian government has proposed new legislation that would give the country’s media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), new powers to combat online misinformation.
The proposed legislation would allow the ACMA to require digital platforms to keep certain records about matters regarding misinformation and disinformation, and to turn them over when requested. The ACMA would also be able to request the industry to develop a “code of practice” covering measures to combat misinformation, and to enforce that code with penalties of up to $2.75 million dollars or 2 per cent of global turnover.
The ACMA would also be empowered to create and enforce its own industry standard for combatting misinformation. Penalties for breaching the standards could see companies paying up to $6.8 million or 5 per cent of their global turnover.
The draft bill defines misinformation as “unintentionally false, misleading or deceptive content”, and disinformation as “misinformation intentionally disseminated to cause serious harm”. And social media platforms, news-aggregators and even podcasts would all be subject to the regulator’s new powers.
The ACMA has already been in consultation with social media giants during the bill’s drafting.
The sources for this piece include an article in ABC.
