The new 'Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material' law could mean jail time or massive fines if social media companies don't take down violent videos quickly.
Attorney-general Christian Porter, left, and communications minister Mitch Fifield.
The government introduced the laws in the wake of the Christchurch shootings in mid-March, where a gunman opened fire on two mosques, livestreaming it to Facebook with a GoPro. The video was shared on Facebook and then spread to other platforms including YouTube and Twitter. The Criminal Code Amendment Bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday after the Senate waved it through on Wednesday. The law drew support from the government and Labor opposition,it was"poorly drafted" and would not achieve its purpose.
Facebook said it was alerted to the Christchurch video 29 minutes after it started, and it was viewed 4,000 times before being removed. By the time Facebook had been tipped off, the video had already been uploaded to 8chan. Digital Rights Watch director Tom Sulston told BuzzFeed News that while he did not support streaming of hateful content on the internet and agreed it should be censored, the government's approach was a"kneejerk reaction".
Sulston also said it could be technically difficult for large social media platforms to take down violent content quickly. Computers are"stupid and literal", he said, and automated processes can struggle to tell the difference between a violent fictional film and footage of actual murder.
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