Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

How do you, as a young, vulnerable woman, begin to take action against anonymous trolls who are motivated to destroy your reputation? These reforms will permit more Australians to seek redress for online harms, because anonymity should not be weaponised to abuse, harass or bully a person or damage their state of mind. In some circumstances, social media companies will be expected to introduce mechanisms to allow those who post anonymous defamatory content to be identified with consent or with a court order. If anonymous trolls can't be identified, social media companies could be liable in defamation or as publishers of that content under our proposed legislation. This is particularly important for Australian women because we know that women are the greatest targets of online abuse, with research showing that a third of all Australian women had experienced abuse or harassment online. This needs to stop. I know that all sides of the House agree with this. The Morrison government is committed to keeping Australian women and, indeed, all Australians safe in the real world and safe online.

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