The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) has called on the Australian government to replace the voluntary codes written by industry associations for digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter with mandatory codes written by legislators or regulators.
HRLC’s senior lawyer, Scott Cosgriff, said that other major jurisdictions such as the European Union have acknowledged that self-regulation and co-regulation are not effective, and Australia should not rely on voluntary codes that allow powerful tech companies to pick and choose rules written by the tech industry itself. HRLC suggested that new regulation should be modelled on the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Under the DSA, large platforms are required to conduct annual risk assessments to identify and assess significant systemic risks.
Cosgriff said that Australia needs comprehensive digital regulation that addresses the systems and processes that generate and amplify risks, such as algorithms that determine what millions of people see every day.
The Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) will receive the power to write and enforce its own code if DIGI’s code is inadequate for dealing with disinformation and misinformation. DIGI’s code will be extended to platforms that are not signatories to it, and an exposure draft of legislation expanding ACMA’s regulatory powers will be released during the first half of the year, followed by subsequent public consultation, with legislation to be introduced later in the year. These moves were made in response to recommendations made by the ACMA in 2021.
