👉 Background: Meta, TikTok and X, collectively have over 4.7 billion monthly active users... which means a LOT of agendas, and misinformation on their platforms. Last year, the UK passed new content moderation rules, forcing social media platforms to remove misinformation, or else face penalties.

👉 What happened: Inspired by the UK's actions, the Australian government wants to follow suit. The government plans to fine social media platforms up to 5% of their global revenue if they fail to stop the spread of misinformation online.

👉 What else: And while this response is in no way surprising, Elon Musk has shot back and called the Australian government “fascists” for this proposed legislation.

What's the key learning?

💡Social media platforms are increasingly being held accountable for the content they host, especially when that content can cause real-world harm.

💡While social media platforms want to promote free speech between users, Governments also believe they have a responsibility to prevent the spread of harmful content and misinformation like deep-fake material or even live-streamed murder scenes.

💡X reported $4.8 billion USD in revenue in 2023 - so 5% of that would be $240 million in potential Australian fines alone. But these steep fines in the UK and now potentially Australia could force social media companies to be more proactive about stopping misinformation.