Australia is cracking down on big tech companies who don't tackle the spread of "disinformation and misinformation".
The federal government Down Under proposed new laws, which could see the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) force the likes of Google, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter to hand over data to prove what actions the companies are taking to prevent harmful fake news from running riot on their platforms.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said: "This will encourage platforms to be ambitious in addressing the harms of disinformation and misinformation, while providing ACMA with the ability to hold platforms to account should their voluntary efforts prove inadequate or untimely."
Last year, the aforementioned platforms launched a voluntary code of practice to tackle misinformation online.
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously called on social media platforms to do more to prevent hate speech and lies from being published.
He moaned: "Social media has become a coward's palace where people can just go on there, not say who they are, destroy people's lives, and say the most foul and offensive things to people, and do so with impunity.
"The companies that [do not] say who they are, well, they're not a platform anymore. They're a publisher, and you know what the implications of that means in terms of those issues. So people should be responsible for what they say in a country that believes in free speech."
