Australia threatens social media giants with fines that enable misinformation – regulations

The government announced that it would require tech platforms to adopt codes of conduct on how to prevent the spread of dangerous falsehoods. These codes would need to be approved by a regulator. If a platform fails to do so, the regulator would set its own standards and fine companies for non-compliance.

The law, which is due to be introduced in parliament on Thursday, targets false content that damages electoral integrity or public health, calls for the denunciation of a group or harm to an individual, or risks disrupting vital infrastructure or emergency services.

The bill is part of a wider regulatory push in Australia, where political leaders have complained that overseas-based technology platforms are flouting the country's sovereignty. The bill comes ahead of a federal election due within a year.

Facebook owner Meta has already said it could block professional news content if forced to pay licensing fees. X, formerly Twitter, has largely stopped moderating its content since being acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022.

“Misinformation and disinformation pose a serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, and to our democracy, society and economy,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said in a statement.

“Doing nothing and allowing this problem to fester is not an option.”

An initial version of the bill was criticised in 2023 for giving the Australian Communications and Media Authority too much power in determining what constitutes misinformation and disinformation – the term for the deliberate spread of lies.

Rowland said the new bill stipulates that the media regulator does not have the power to force the removal of individual content or user accounts. The new version of the bill protects professional news, artistic and religious content, but not government-authorized content.

About four-fifths of Australians want to counteract the spread of misinformation, the minister said, citing the Australian Media Literary Alliance.

Meta, which counts nearly nine in 10 Australians as Facebook users, declined to comment. Industry association DIGI, of which Meta is a member, said the new regime strengthens an anti-disinformation code last updated in 2022, but many questions remained unanswered.

X was not immediately available for comment.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said while he had not yet reviewed the revised bill, “Australians' legitimate political beliefs should not be censored by the government or by foreign social media platforms.”

The Australian Communications and Media Authority said it welcomed “the legislation that gives it a formal regulatory role in tackling misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms”.