Australia’s Social Media Trolling Bill
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This week, an Australian Senate Committee will hold a hearing on a controversial bill proposed by the Liberal-National Coalition that follows a number of other bills that take new approaches to addressing the effects of large technology companies. The bill in question the “Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2022,” which purports to address the liability an entity has for defamatory comments others post as Australia’s highest court held last year.
This is not Australia’s first bite at the online content and harm regulation apple. Last summer, the nation passed the “Online Safety Bill 2021” and the “Online Safety (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021” (see here for more detail and analysis of the bills as introduced.) Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is in the process of standing up this new regime that took effect in late January.
The Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2022 could serve as a model for other nations like the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, and New Zealand, each of which is or might be entertaining similar legislation (see here for more detail and analysis.) In fact, late last month, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) announced “[n]ew plans to protect people from anonymous trolls online” for inclusion in the “Online Safety Bill.”
In the Australian government’s rendition of events, this bill was prompted by a recent court ruling that found a company liable for defamatory posts others made on its website:
§ The challenges of responding to defamation on social media became clear after the High Court's decision in Fairfax Media Publications v Voller [2021] HCA 27, handed down in September 2021. The Voller decision shows that Australians who maintain a social media page may be exposed to defamation liability for defamatory posts that others make on their page – even if they are not aware of the posts.
§ To urgently address this situation the Australian Government has developed the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2022. To address the implications of the Voller decision, the Bill will protect Australians from defamation liability that could arise if they allow users to post on their social media page.