New Scientist - USA (2021-12-11)

10 | New Scientist | 11 December 2021

News

AUSTRALIA’S prime minister

Scott Morrison has said that

“anonymous trolls are on notice”.

His government released draft

legislation on 1 December

designed to force social media

companies to expose the

identities of anonymous users

who post defamatory comments.

“These will be some of the

strongest powers to tackle online

trolls in the world,” Morrison said

when announcing the proposed

law. But experts say the legislation

is political theatre because it

won’t do anything to stop most

forms of online bullying (see page

25). Instead, it could undermine

individuals’ privacy and fuel the

current trend of government MPs

suing their social media critics.

If the proposed Social Media

(Anti-Trolling) Bill is passed, it will

allow Australians who feel they

have been defamed on social

media to request court orders

forcing providers to disclose the

real names, country locations,

phone numbers and email

addresses of users who have

allegedly defamed them. The idea

is to unmask trolls who have been

hiding behind anonymous user

names so that legal action can

be launched against them, as

long as they are also in Australia.

If the social media company

can’t comply, because it doesn’t

know the real identity of the

accused user, or it refuses to

comply, it will be held liable

for the defamatory comments.

This is a major problem, because

many people set up accounts with

fake details, says Jennifer Beckett

at the University of Melbourne in

Australia. Requiring users to verify

“ This proposed law is
political theatre, designed
to frame ministers suing
citizens as justified”

OL

IVI

ER

DO

UL

IER

Y/A

FP

VIA

GE

TT

Y^ IM

AG

ES

Social media firms

could become liable for

defamatory comments

Analysis Social media

Proposed anti-trolling law could be used to silence critics of the

Australian government Efforts to stop anonymous trolls are unlikely to

work, but could see more people sued for defamation, says Alice Klein

resources to launch defamation

cases may benefit, she says.

For example, defence minister

Peter Dutton won a defamation

case against refugee advocate

Shane Bazzi on 23 November.

Bazzi was ordered to pay Dutton

A$35,000 (US$25,000) for tweeting

that he was a “rape apologist”. In

March, Dutton told a radio station

that he wanted to sue more social

media users, including those with

anonymous accounts. “Some of

these people who are trending on

Twitter or have the anonymity

of different Twitter accounts,

they’re out there putting out all

these statements and tweets that

are frankly defamatory,” he said.

“I’m going to start to pick out

some of them to sue.”

Other recent cases include

government MP Andrew Laming

launching legal action against

Louise Milligan, a journalist

at the ABC, Australia’s national

broadcaster. She later agreed

to pay Laming A$79,000 in

a defamation settlement.

Government MP Anne Webster

also sued a Facebook user for

defamation, winning A$875,

and New South Wales state MP

John Barilaro sued a YouTuber,

who settled out of court.

Michael Douglas at the

University of Western Australia

says the proposed anti-trolling law

could facilitate more defamation

cases against ordinary Australians.

“This proposed law is political

theatre, designed to frame

government ministers suing

regular citizens as somehow

morally justified as a ‘fight against

trolls’,” he says. “I would not be

surprised if we see more and

more cases of politicians suing.”

Legal powers

In 2018, the Morrison government

introduced another law targeted

at tech companies that was meant

to keep Australians safe from

terrorism and organised crime but

has since been used to investigate

journalists. The Assistance and

Access Act can be used to force

secure messaging services like

WhatsApp to help police access

metadata and encrypted

communications. It was used in

Australia’s biggest-ever crime bust

in June – which led to more than

300 people being charged – but

has also been used to investigate

ABC reporters after they published

allegations of Australian war

crimes in Afghanistan.

“[The government have] used

these powers against serious

criminals, but they also haven’t

hesitated to use them against

journalists,” says Vanessa Teague

at the Australian National

University. “This agenda has

a serious negative impact on

the capacity of Australians to

communicate freely and securely.”

The proposed Social Media

(Anti-Trolling) Bill will now be

opened for public consultation so

stakeholders can provide feedback

before it is formally introduced

to the Australian parliament. ❚

Australian prime

minister Scott

Morrison

MI

CK

TS

IKA

S/E

PA

• EF

E/S

HU

TT

ER

ST

OC

K

their identities with ID would

mean handing over private

information, she says.

The proposed law wouldn’t

even deter most kinds of online

trolling, because only a small

portion of it actually constitutes

defamation, says Beckett. To

be considered defamatory, a

comment must be shown to harm

someone’s reputation. Most

online bullying involves insults

like calling people “fat” or “ugly”,

which are upsetting but not

against the law in Australia.

Many social media users who

go by their real names still insult

others on a regular basis, so the

threat of losing anonymity isn’t

going to change their behaviour,

says Beckett. But government

figures who have the wealth and