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Internet trolls may be facing trouble in Australia, the country plans to introduce a law that will require social media companies to “unmask anonymous trolls,” allowing users to file defamation lawsuits.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his government would introduce legislation this week requiring social media companies to collect personal details, likely phone numbers, email addresses and contact names, of current and new users so they can be handed over in defamation cases.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that social network operators account for anonymous “trolls” and said they had no interest in making the online world safe. Morrison said, “That would be an admission that they have no interest in making the online world safe if they were to do that,” He was answering a question on Facebook allegedly pulling the plug on Australia over new anti-trolling laws aimed at stopping online abuse.

Scott Morrison likened the current internet to a “Wild West” where anonymous attackers could “harm people.” The law will require social media companies to establish a quick, simple, and standardised complaints system that ensures defamatory remarks can be removed and trolls identified.

One of the biggest problems with the system will doubtlessly be the verification of information handed over by users. Most trolls will probably give fake details when signing up. If for whatever reason, the platforms cannot or will not identify the troll, the firms will have to pay for the poster’s defamatory comments.

These proposed laws come just weeks after the Australian High Court ruled in the Dylan Voller case that channel owners within these social media could be held liable for comments on posts on platforms such as Facebook.

In September 2021, CNN had to shut down its Facebook pages in Australia due to the nation’s top court ruling regulating that Australian media outlets were responsible for readers comments. CNN asked Facebook to disable comments on the social network in Australia, but Facebook refused to do so.

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India today

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