Australia Abandons Plan Of Imposing Fines On Social Media Giants For Allowing The Spread Of Misinformation

The Australian government on Sunday announced that it has abandoned plans to impose fines on internet platforms.

Notably, this decision comes at a time when the nation is preparing for a federal election which is expected to happen in the next year.

Source : X/@AlboMP

The spread of misinformation has been on the rise recently and social media platforms have been accused of letting it spread without any serious restrictions or moderation. To curb this, Australia recently announced that it will penalise social media giants for their alleged failure to curb the spread of misinformation. There were plans to impose hefty fines of up to 5 per cent of the global revenues of social media platforms. However, Australia has abandoned those plans now.

The Australian government on Sunday announced that it has abandoned plans to impose fines on internet platforms. Notably, this decision comes at a time when the nation is preparing for a federal election which is expected to happen in the next year.

Australia Goes Back On The Decision To Fine Social Media Giants

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, in a statement, said, “Based on public statements and engagements with Senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate.”

The Minister said that the bill would have “ushered in an unprecedented level of transparency, holding big tech to account for their systems and processes to prevent and minimise the spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation online”. He also added that some four-fifths of Australians actually wanted the spread of misinformation to be addressed.

According to Sky News, the legislation faced opposition from the Liberal-National coalition, the Australian Greens, and crossbench senators. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young criticized the government’s proposal, describing it as a "half-baked option" during a televised interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday. Meanwhile, industry group DIGI, which includes Meta as a member, argued that the proposed framework merely reiterated the existing anti-misinformation code already in place.