Can the Australian Government's proposed new laws really tame the trolls?
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The push to control the worst of social media was announced by the PM on Sunday and touted as world first.
For many of us who have been on the receiving end of online vitriol and venom, we would hope it can send the trolls back to their dark and dingy places.
The anonymous nature of the online world, particularly social media platforms, has seen bullying and plain and simple defamation run riot.
In the most extreme examples, and there are many, the work of faceless and gutless trolls has seen countless people take their own lives.
Too many people think that because they can't see the reaction of the people they are trolling, they can pretty much say whatever they like.
It's so easy to destroy someone, particularly those already under pressure for a myriad of reasons.
Under the new proposal social media giants - particularly Facebook and its stablemate Instagram - will be held accountable for people making comments on that platform.
It seems they will essentially put them on a similar footing to traditional publishers, and leave them open to defamation costs if that can be proven.
Their other option is to identify the person making the defamatory comments, so that they can face the consequences.
Obviously this will be the preferred course of action for social media platforms, as having to control the comments as the "publisher" would be virtually impossible.
It will likely lead to more stringent sign-up procedures for those using the platforms, to enable them to handball any legal action.
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However, given the global nature of the social media platforms, how it will work internationally could be a major hurdle for the proposal.
Can a law in Australia be enforced against people in another country far from the reach of local legislation?
If it tames the trolls once and for all then maybe it will be worth it.
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