Australia called for governments around the world to agree on rules of the road to fight the spread of misinformation and state-backed disinformation online on Friday.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said blocs like the Quad group, the United States, India, Japan, Australia and global bodies like the United Nations were already working to strike a balance between harmful content and free expression online.
“We should be starting yesterday, but time was running out to agree on rules of what was permissable.
“We do have to be very clear that the rule of law that applies offline has to apply online.
“Rules of the road are what enable road users to stay safe, same with users online.
Being able to identify the difference between free speech and malicious disinformation is important,” she added.
Misinformation and government-sponsored attempts to stoke social disharmony online have become a hot political issue with critics accusing platforms like Facebook of failing to stop democracy being skewed by the content they host.
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Kamila/Reuters
Australia calls for global action to fight online misinformation