Dealing with fake news, Australia warns it will severely punish technology ‘giants’

The Australian Information and Communications Regulatory Authority on June 26 said it had drafted a bill related to the handling of fake information in cyberspace with “mandatory” regulations for the investment sector. This is less controlled.

Under the bill, owners of platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, TikTok and podcast services would face penalties worth up to 5% of annual global revenue, the highest penalty. proposed so far in the world.

The Australian Information and Communications Authority, the government’s watchdog, will be given a range of powers to force companies to prevent fake news or the spread of misinformation, as well as prevent monetization of this information.

A spokesman for the Australian media regulator said: “If passed, it would provide the regulator with a range of new powers to force information from digital platforms to be registered. and comply with the required rules and set standards in the field”.

The watchdog would not have the power to take down or penalize individual posts, but could instead punish platforms for failing to monitor and deal with content that is intentionally “falsified, misleading.” and deceptive” can cause “serious harm”.

The rules are similar to a law already passed in the European Union and are expected to come into force in the near future, where tech giants could face fines as high as the 6% of annual revenue and the ban works entirely within the block.

The proposed bill would also help strengthen Australia’s current Voluntary Code of Practice on Fake News and Misinformation introduced in 2021, but with limited impact so far.

Tech giants including Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Redbubble, TikTok and Twitter are among the signatories to the current set of rules.

The bill comes amid an increase in misinformation in Australia regarding the Indigenous rights referendum later this year.

The public hopes that the new regulations will have a strong impact on the activities of technology giants, and at the same time make the internet environment safer, bringing many benefits to users in this country.

According to AFP