These two articles appeared last week. First we had:
Australia's anti-trolling Bill blasted by senators, online abuse victims and organisations alike
From being too hard to access to being unclear, various people have testified that the anti-trolling Bill needs more work if it is to become law.
Written by Campbell Kwan, Journalist
on March 10, 2022 | Topic: Social Enterprise
Labor Senator Kim Carr blasted the federal government's proposed anti-trolling laws on Thursday, saying the legislation is "grossly inadequate" in light of critics saying it could create various unintended consequences.
The proposed anti-trolling laws seek to compel social media platforms into creating complaints schemes that allow people to issue complaints about potential defamatory material and receive information about the poster of that material for the purposes of initiating legal proceedings.
"Every submission today has said this Bill is grossly inadequate in terms of its drafting of the unintended consequences," said Carr, who is the deputy chair of the Senate committee tasked with reviewing the anti-trolling legislation.
Carr made those comments at the committee's first hearing to review the Bill, where various individuals and organisations criticised the Bill's construction.
Nyadol Nyuon, an African-Australian human rights advocate and lawyer who has been the victim of online racial abuse, told the Senate committee that the high costs of initiating defamation proceedings would be a major barrier for many Australians in using the proposed Bill's powers.
Despite her legal expertise, Nyuon said she would be unlikely to use the proposed Bill's powers herself due to this barrier.
"The sheer volume of it makes it almost hard to be able to deal with each individual that comes with it," she said.
"I can assure you even as a very privileged woman who works a full-time job, I would think twice before putting my money on a defamation claim."
According to Electronic Frontiers Australia, bringing a defamation lawsuit in Australia costs between AU$20,000 to AU$80,000.
Another high profile victim of online abuse who appeared before the committee, former TV presenter Erin Molan, said the current construction of the Bill would "exclude 99.9% of Australians" from opportunities to seek redress against defamatory behaviour.
"It would be absolutely impossible to afford, when the cost of living is already high enough for people to afford to get a lawyer and take action," Molan said.
Nyuon added that the powers afforded by the Bill are narrow in the sense that it "doesn't seem to catch up how online abuse can shift".
More here:
Second here:
‘Confusion, conflation and oversimplification’: eSafety Commissioner slams ‘anti-trolling’ bill
Denham Sadler
National Affairs Editor
10 March 2022
The eSafety Commissioner has slammed the federal government’s so-called “anti-trolling” bill, saying it conflates several issues, has stirred confusion and oversimplifies important issues.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant appeared before a Senate inquiry into the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill on Thursday morning, raising a series of concerns around the legislation, including that it “creates public expectations that cannot be met by any government agency”.
The bill provides a “new novel framework to allow Australians to respond to defamatory content posted on social media”, introducing a pathway for people who believe they have been defamed by a social media comment to apply to identify the anonymous poster.
The bill also reverses the High Court’s Voller decision, making administrators of social media pages no longer liable for third party comments, and giving social media giants partial exemption from liability if they have adequate complaints schemes in place.
The name of the bill has proved especially controversial, with Department representatives confirming it has nothing to do with online safety or “trolling”, with the term troll not appearing anywhere in the actual legislation.
Ms Inman Grant echoed these concerns when addressing the Senators, saying the bill conflates serious online abuse with defamation, and has confused the general public.
The eSafety Commissioner’s new powers under the Online Safety Act came into effect earlier this year, and the office has already receive about 500 complaints regarding adult online cyber abuse.
But nearly a third of these relate to defamatory content, something which is outside of the Commissioner’s remit.
The government’s legislation will further this confusion relating to online abuse and defamation.
“Conflating defamation with trolling is mixing apples with oranges, [and] the catch-all term of trolling trivialises legitimate online abuse – you can troll endlessly without defaming someone,” Ms Inman Grant said.
Lots more here:
So the Commissioner, lawyers and victims all say the legislation is rubbish.
Seems to me they should start again! I wonder what will happen in the next thrilling installment!
David.
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