Practical Law Commercial: Legal update, Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2021 (Cth) to unmask online authors of defamatory comments on social media
The Australian Government has released an exposure draft of the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2021 (Cth) together with an Explanatory Paper and Detailed Explanatory Notes in an effort the law to catch up to technology in the defamation space. The proposed legislation provides for a mechanism to unmask the identity of the originator of an allegedly defamatory comment on social media to enable the filing of defamation proceedings. The Legal update, Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2021 (Cth) to unmask online authors of defamatory comments on social media considers the key provisions of the proposed legislation and related challenges.
For a tracker which monitors the progress of key developments in Australian defamation law reform, see Legislation Tracker, Defamation law reform.