The Australian government is drafting laws that could force social media companies to reveal the identities of anonymous users in an effort to crack down on online trolling.
Australia's prime minister Scott Morrison (file photo) Photo: AFP
The laws would require social media companies to collect the details of all users, and allow courts to force companies to hand over the identities of users to aid defamation cases.
Social media companies would also be made legally liable for the content they publish from users, removing liability from individuals and companies that manage pages.
The legislation was to be released in draft form this week, and is expected to be introduced to Australia's parliament early next year.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wanted to close the gap between real life and discourse online.
"The rules that exist in the real world must exist in the digital and online world," he said.
Under the proposal, social media companies will be required to create a complaints process for people who feel they have been defamed online.
The complaints process will allow people to ask that material be taken down by a user if they feel it is defamatory.
If the user is unwilling to take down the content, or the complainant wants to take further action, the company asks a user for their consent to release their personal details.
If the user does not consent to their details being released, a court order can be made requiring the company to release them - allowing the complainant to pursue defamation action.
Morrison said the government would be happy to intervene in court and take on social media companies trying to avoid releasing personal details.
"So if the digital companies or others think they're only just going to have to be dealing with perhaps someone of little means seeking to pursue this, then we will look for those cases.
"We will back them in the courts and we will take them on."
Morrison said the establishment of a public defender's office tasked with taking on such cases was under consideration.
Putting a name and face to a troll online
It is not completely clear yet what sort of data social media companies might be required to collect from users, in order to comply with the new laws.
But the indications are it would likely include a user's name, email address and contact phone number.
And the rules would not only apply to new users joining a service, but to existing users too.
The actual mechanism for collecting all that data would be up to the social media companies to figure out.
Companies would not be required to actively monitor posts online and pull down those that are potentially defamatory. They would only have to respond to complaints that are made.
They would only give out a person's details without their consent at the direction of the Federal Court of Australia, once the court is satisfied that step is necessary.
Asked if he had consulted social media companies on the proposals, Morrison said he had spoken with them regularly - but was happy to proceed without their approval.
"And I will keep taking it further, until they continue to do the responsible thing."
Unwinding who is responsible for what online
A key part of the new rules is clearing up who takes responsibility for content published online.
A recent Australian High Court case found that the person managing a public page on social media was responsible for comments made by others on that page, rather than the social media company that runs the platform.
It meant, for example, that if a media outlet posted a news story on Facebook, it holds legal responsibility for any potentially defamatory comments made by others on that post.
These new laws will push that legal responsibility onto the social media company.
But the laws will also allow the companies to use the complaints system as a defence to defamation action. So effectively, those companies with a functioning complaints system will be shielded from potential defamation cases.
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said social media companies should carry responsibility for material published on their platform.
"Social media services need to step up, and they need to understand that they have a responsibility in this regard," she said.
"And that is why this important step providing clarity to all Australians, but in particular, to social media companies - you will be deemed the publisher."
Opposition party questions international reach of laws
Federal Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said Labor would wait to see the detail of the new laws before giving a firm position either way on them.
Albanese said it was not unreasonable to suggest social media companies know the identity of their users.
"It shouldn't be beyond the capacity of social media to be able to identify people who are engaged in inappropriate activity online," he said.
"Just like if someone [in a public space] says something that's defamatory or inappropriate or hurtful, they're doing it face to face, you can identify them.
"People shouldn't be able to hide behind anonymous Twitter accounts online and engage in inappropriate activity."
But he is questioning how easily the laws might be avoided - as trolls simply close their Australian account, and use a foreign IP address to reopen it.
Doing so would potentially avoid the scope of the laws, if they are only applied to accounts registered in Australia.
"Because the government needs to explain how it can deal with the fact that domestic controls have limitations for what is a global industry."
Twitter and Facebook are yet to comment on the proposals.
- ABC