Australia drops plan to fine Facebook, X and other social media companies: “…it is clear that there is no…” – Times of India

Australia has announced that it is not going to impose fines on Facebook, Instagram and other social media giants under a legislation that was proposed earlier this year. The country planned to impose fines on these companies for allegedly failing to curb the spread of misinformation.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, communications minister Michelle Rowland announced the decision on Sunday (November 24), citing significant opposition in the Senate as the reason for withdrawing the proposed legislation.
“Based on public statements and engagements with senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the senate,” she said in a statement.

Why and how much fine Australia wanted to impose on social media giants

A legislation was introduced in the Australian parliament in September this year. The legislation would have granted authorities powers to fine tech companies up to 5% of their annual global turnover for violating online safety obligations.
The aim of the bill aimed to stop the spread of harmful lies online, especially those that could affect elections, public health, or put people and important services at risk, the authorities said, adding that big tech companies have too much power and are ignoring Australian laws.
Rowland said 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”.
Online platforms would also be required to establish codes of conduct to prevent the spread of dangerous falsehoods and obtain approval from a regulator as per the proposed law.

Opposition against the proposed legislation

The bill had faced strong criticism, including from tech mogul Elon Musk, who labelled the Australian government “fascists” for pursuing such regulations.

Musk’s comment received ridicule from other lawmakers, including government services minister Bill Shorten, as per Reuters.
“Elon Musk has had more positions on free speech than the Kama Sutra. When it’s in his commercial interests, he is the champion of free speech, and when he doesn’t like it… he’s going to shut it all down,” said Shorten.
Despite dropping this specific bill, Australia remains committed to regulating the tech industry as the government is moving forward with a separate initiative to implement a nationwide social media ban for children under 16.
Under this new legislation, social media companies could face hefty fines exceeding US$30 million for failing to prevent underage users from accessing their platforms.