Under new Australian regulations, tech firms may be fined billions of dollars for failing to combat disinformation. A watchdog warned on Monday that the laws would introduce “mandatory” norms to the sparsely regulated industry.
The proprietors of platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, TikTok, and podcasting services would be subject to fines of up to 5% of annual global revenue under the proposed legislation, among the largest suggested anywhere in the world.
A government watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, would be given a number of powers to compel businesses to stop the spread of false information and prevent it from being commercialised.
“The legislation, if passed, would provide the ACMA with a range of new powers to compel information from digital platforms, register and enforce mandatory industry codes as well as make industry standards,” a spokesperson told AFP.
The watchdog would not have the power to take down or sanction individual posts.
But it could instead punish platforms for failing to monitor and combat intentionally “false, misleading and deceptive” content that could cause “serious harm”.
The rules would echo legislation expected to come into force in the European Union, where tech giants could face fines as high as six percent of annual turnover and outright bans on operating inside the bloc.
Australia has also been at the forefront of efforts to regulate digital platforms, prompting tech firms to make mostly unfulfilled threats to withdraw from the Australian market.
The proposed bill seeks to strengthen the current voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation that launched in 2021, but which has had only limited impact.
