‘Keep Australia safe’: Dystopian draft bill against ‘misinformation’ unveiled

The Australian government has introduced a draft bill that cautions tech and social media giants about the consequences of allowing misinformation on their platforms.

They may face significant fines if they fail to remove such content. Under the proposed bill, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the country’s media regulator, would be empowered to require digital platforms like Google and Facebook to maintain records pertaining to disinformation. These companies would be obligated to provide these records whenever requested by the ACMA.

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Furthermore, the ACMA would have the authority to establish an industry-wide “code of practice” aimed at addressing misinformation, and they would be responsible for developing and implementing their own standards for the industry.

Any breach of this proposed new standard would see tech giants pay a steep maximum penalty with fines of up to $4.6 million ($6.88 million AUD) or 5% of global turnover. For perspective, 5% of Facebook parent company Meta’s global turnover amounts to approximately $5.3 billion ($8 billion AUD).

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