PM Scott Morrison has lost his shit.
Anonymous online trolls will be unmasked in a new social media crackdown that will hand Australian courts the power to order tech giants to identify perpetrators or risk bearing the cost of defamation payouts themselves.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday that under the new laws, to be introduced to Federal Parliament, people who believe they have been defamed online will also be able to get court orders forcing social media giants to reveal who is responsible for the posts.
If the companies refuse or are unable to identify who made the defamatory comments, then they will have to pay the defamation costs.
Announcing the measures on Sunday, Mr Morrison said the internet should not be a “wild west where bots and bigots and trolls” can harm people without consequence.
He said women and children were the people most affected by anonymous bullying and defamatory abuse online and there needed to be a “quick and fast way” for people to raise these issues with the platforms and get it taken down.
“Free speech is not being allowed to cowardly hide in your basement and sledge … and harass people anonymously and seek to destroy their lives,” Mr Morrison said.
“That is cowardice — and there is no place for that in this country.”
