 "Social media companies face fines for defamatory posts in Australia")
The Australian government is considering a range of measures, including fines, that would make social media companies more responsible for defamatory material published on their platforms, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said on Sunday.
“We expect a stronger position from the platforms,” Fletcher said in an interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “For a long time, they’ve been getting away with not taking any responsibility in relation to content published on their sites.” Intensifying a debate over the country’s libel and defamation laws, Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday called social media “a coward’s palace”, saying platforms should be treated as publishers when defamatory comments by unidentified people are posted.
“Social media has become a coward’s palace where people can go on there, not say who they are, destroy people’s lives, and say the most foul and offensive things to people, and do so with impunity,” Morrison said.
Fletcher said the government was looking at the option to treat them as publishers and the extent of the responsibility in general of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook when defamatory material was published on their sites. Asked whether the government would consider laws that would fine social media platforms for posting defamatory material, Fletcher said the government was looking at “a whole range” of measures.
“We expect a stronger position from the platforms,” Fletcher said in an interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “For a long time, they’ve been getting away with not taking any responsibility in relation to content published on their sites.” Intensifying a debate over the country’s libel and defamation laws, Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday called social media “a coward’s palace”, saying platforms should be treated as publishers when defamatory comments by unidentified people are posted.
“Social media has become a coward’s palace where people can go on there, not say who they are, destroy people’s lives, and say the most foul and offensive things to people, and do so with impunity,” Morrison said.
Fletcher said the government was looking at the option to treat them as publishers and the extent of the responsibility in general of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook when defamatory material was published on their sites. Asked whether the government would consider laws that would fine social media platforms for posting defamatory material, Fletcher said the government was looking at “a whole range” of measures.
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