In today’s society where everyone is immersed in social media, while we enjoy freedom of speech, many people are also troubled by “cyberbullying“. The anonymous nature of the internet provides these bullies with a convenient mask, and in cyberbullying incidents, victims are often left with nowhere to turn for help.

A Real Case

Zoe runs a cafe in Sydney. Because business was doing well, she drew the envy of several competitors in the same community. One day, Zoe suddenly received several text messages from unknown numbers on her phone, accusing her of “exploiting employees“, ”withholding wages“, ”oppressing fellow countrymen as an overseas Chinese“, and so on. Confused, Zoe turned to her friends for help. With their assistance, she discovered that someone had anonymously posted on a social media platform, naming Zoe’s cafe for improper business practices, exploiting staff, deliberately cutting wages, and pinning a series of accusations on Zoe. The post even included Zoe’s WeChat ID, phone number, and the name and address of her cafe, calling on people not to patronise her cafe and not to encourage such unethical behaviour.

Aggrieved, Zoe contacted the platform’s administrators, stating that what the poster said was untrue and asking the platform to remove the post and provide the poster’s information — at the very least so she could find out who was maliciously smearing her. However, the platform administrators said that, out of consideration for user privacy, the platform had no authority to provide user information, and suggested Zoe report the matter to police. Only upon police request would the platform hand over the information. Zoe subsequently filed a police report, but was told that since no actual harm had occurred, police were unable to take action. This left Zoe feeling deeply wronged and helpless. She had done nothing wrong — was there really no way to defend her rights when someone anonymously defamed her online?

I’m sure many people in today’s internet-driven society have come across cases like this. Beyond individuals, businesses in particular most fear receiving anonymous defamatory posts online. When faced with this kind of situation, is there really nothing that can be done?

However, such cyberbullying incidents have taken a new turn later this year.

Anti-Trolling Bill

To crack down on issues such as cyberbullying, the Australian government announced on 28 November that it would introduce related legislation requiring social media platforms to disclose the identities of those who post defamatory or harmful comments or information. On the evening of 22 November, the bill passed the Australian Senate. The government’s legislation will strengthen the eSafety Commissioner’s powers to tackle cyberbullying of adults, and where platforms fail to promptly remove harmful content, the new law will unmask anonymous offenders.

Under this new “anti-trolling bill”, social media companies must establish a complaints mechanism. If members of the public believe they have been defamed, bullied, or attacked on social media, they can request that the platform remove the content.

Users accused of posting or sharing abusive content — including intimate photos — who fail to remove it will face fines of up to AUD $11,000. Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter could be fined up to AUD $500,000 for ignoring takedown notices. Social media platforms will have 24 hours to handle such situations.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said that if the content in question cannot be removed, users can ask the social media platform to disclose the details of the person who posted the content, such as phone number and email address. If the platform refuses to disclose the user’s details, the victim can seek legal assistance to require the platform to provide the offender’s identity, and bring defamation proceedings against the person who posted the content.

Final Thoughts

Australian Prime Minister Morrison has said that an important part of Australia’s freedom of speech is holding individuals accountable for what they say. In a free society like Australia, we value freedom of speech. But we only enjoy true freedom when free speech is balanced with responsibility for speech. Freedom of speech does not permit you to cowardly hide in your basement, anonymously smearing and harassing others, and attempting to destroy people’s lives. The online world should not be a place where fake accounts, bigots, and others run rampant anonymously, harming, harassing, bullying, and provoking others. “This is not the Australia we should have. This is not something that should be allowed to happen in the real world, and there is no reason to allow it to happen in the digital world.”