By Sumeyya Ilanbey
September 14, 2021 — 7.14pm
, register or subscribe to save articles for later.
Readers are advised that some of the content of this story could offend
Political parties could be fined for publishing misleading electoral advertisements and social media giants forced to crack down on fake accounts as part of a Victorian parliamentary committee’s push to reduce the harm social media does to elections.
A cross-party parliamentary inquiry heard social media had fuelled harassment and bullying through anonymous and fake accounts, with women and minority groups disproportionately targeted.
The electoral matters committee on Tuesday tabled its report on the impact social media has had on Victorian elections and electoral administration, and made 33 recommendations to the Andrews government.
“We need to have more transparency and accountability on social media and that needs to be our starting point,” said the committee’s chair, upper house Labor MP Lee Tarlamis.
“We need to shed more light on what’s occurring so people can take informed action and deal with the most inappropriate behaviours on the platforms. The report was also basically sending a message to social media platforms that there are mechanisms available for us to step in and start pulling other levers to enforce it.”
While digital platforms have had some positive impacts on elections and made politics more accessible, the inquiry found they tended to promote material that is “...
Read Full Story: https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/mps-urge-crackdown-on-fake-social-media-accounts-misleading-election-ads-20210914-p58rm2.html
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.