The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is to be empowered to fight harmful information online under new legislation.
Announced by the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, legislation is to provide ACMA with new powers to hold digital platforms to account and improve efforts to combat harmful misinformation and disinformation.
“This marks a major step forward in addressing the spread of online misinformation and disinformation which has grown rapidly in scale and speed,” Ms Rowland said.
“The ACMA will be given new information-gathering and record-keeping powers to create transparency around efforts by digital platforms to respond to misinformation and disinformation on their services, while balancing the right to freedom of expression so fundamental to democracy,” she said.
“The ACMA will also be empowered to register an enforceable industry code and to make a standard, should industry self-regulation measures prove insufficient in addressing the threat posed by misinformation and disinformation.”
Ms Rowland said the graduated set of powers included measures to protect Australians, such as stronger tools to empower users to identify and report relevant cases.
She said the powers were consistent with the key recommendations in ACMA’s June 2021 report on the adequacy of digital platforms’ disinformation and news quality measures.
“They are intended to strengthen and support the voluntary code arrangements undertaken by industry through the Digital Industry Group Inc (DIGI) and will also extend to non-signatories of the DIGI Code,” the Minister said.
“The new framework will focus on systemic issues which pose a risk of harm on digital platforms, rather than individual pieces of content posted online,” she said.
“Digital platforms will continue to be responsible for the content they host and promote to users.”
Ms Rowland said the code and powers would not apply to professional news and authorised electoral content, nor would ACMA have a role in determining what was considered truthful.
