Tech companies including Facebook and Google have released the final version of a long-awaited industry code to address the spread of misinformation on their services in Australia.
Key points:
- Signatories committed to develop and implement measures to deal with misinformation and disinformation on their services
- Australian media regulator calls the industry code “flexible and proportionate”
- Federal government says it will be “watching carefully” to see its effect
The release comes only days after Facebook blocked Australians from viewing and sharing “news content” on its platform, leading experts to predict that misinformation would spread more rapidly in the news vacuum.
The code could change the experience of using social media in Australia, with more pop-up warnings about fake news, as well as better systems to report misinformation.
Misinformation is false or misleading information, and disinformation is the same, but spread with an intent to mislead.
In December 2019, the Australian Government asked the digital industry to develop a code to address disinformation. A pandemic later, these companies, represented by the industry association DIGI, have now released a final version.
Under the code, which is voluntary, all signatories commit to develop and implement measures to deal with mis- and disinformation on their services.
The current signatories are Twitter, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, TikTok and Redbubble (an online marketplace for user-submitted art).
The emphasis of the code is on outcomes rather than specific actions: signatories will choose how to best address misinformation on their service.
The code gives examples of what they may do, including labelling false content, demoting the ranking of content, prioritising credible sources, suspension or disabling of accounts and removal of content.
The signatories will each publish an annual report on their progress.
The Australian media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which is tasked with overseeing the development of the code, criticised this lack of specific measures or targets when DIGI released a draft version of the code in October 2020.
The ACMA has the power to recommend the government introduce mandatory regulation if the code isn’t up to scratch.
But commenting today on the release of the final version, which experts say is much the same as the draft one, the ACMA was broadly positive.
ACMA chairwoman Nerida O’Loughlin said she welcomed the code as a flexible and proportionate approach to dealing with mis- and disinformation online.
“The code anticipates platforms’ actions will be graduated and proportionate to the risk of harm,” she said.
“This will assist them to strike an appropriate balance between dealing with troublesome content and the right to freedom of speech and expression.
“Signatories will also…
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