Australian Social Media Law proposed

The Australian Government has just released a proposed law to deal with defamation and social media comments.

See Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill.

https://www.ag.gov.au/legal-system/social-media-anti-trolling-bill

The AG's office provides the following information:

"The challenges of responding to anonymous online trolling became clear after the High Court's decision in Fairfax Media Publications v Voller [2021] HCA 27, handed down in September 2021. The Voller decision shows that Australians who maintain a social media page may be exposed to defamation liability for defamatory comments posted on the page by others – even if they are not aware of those defamatory comments.

To urgently address this situation the Australian Government has developed the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2021. To address the implications of the Voller decision, the Bill will protect Australians from defamation liability that could arise if they allow users to comment on their social media page."

 See my comments in The Australian blog:  "Law professor supports anti-trolling proposals"