Jail terms and hefty fines will be proposed, which could be the first legislation of its kind in the world

Australia plans tough laws for social media sites that don't take down violent content

Australia is to become the first country in the world to introduce jail terms and multi-million-dollar fines for social media giants that do not quickly remove violent material.

In what is expected to be the final week of parliament before the federal election, the government will seek to put two new sets of offences in the criminal code.

It will be a criminal offence for social media platforms not to remove abhorrent violent material quickly.

The speed of the removal would be determined by a jury.

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This would be punishable by three years in jail for Australian or overseas executives or fines that can reach up to 10% of the platform’s global annual turnover.

Platforms anywhere in the world must notify the Australian Federal Police if they become aware their service is streaming abhorrent violent conduct that is happening in Australia.

Attorney general Christian Porter said the amendments would be modelled on existing offences, which require platforms to notify police if their service is being used to access child pornography.

The laws will also give the e-Safety Commissioner the power to issue notices that bring this type of material to the attention of the social media companies.

As soon as they receive such a notice, the companies will be deemed to be aware of the material and the clock starts ticking for the hosting platform to remove the material or face penalties.

The laws will still ensure that news media can report appropriately on events that are in the public interest, without showing the violent material itself.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Porter were left unimpressed after a meeting with social media companies this week, which had been called in response to the live-streaming of the killing of 50 people in two New Zealand mosques.

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“There are many actions we need to take to keep Australians safe in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, and our government has been getting on with that job,” Morrison said.

“Foremost among these is to recognise how social media platforms are being weaponised by terrorists.

“Big social media companies have a responsibility to take every possible action to ensure their technology products are not exploited by murderous terrorists.”

The laws will capture the playing or streaming of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape and kidnapping on social media.

A new task force has been set up to bring government and social media companies together to deal with the issue, which will also be put on the agenda for G20 leaders in Osaka, Japan, in June.

The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, said the new laws will not have an impact on the reporting of media organisations.

“Australia’s mainstream media already adopt a sensible approach to broadcasting material which can cause harm to individuals, as is required under their licensing arrangements,” he said.

Several Australian media outlets broadcast or embedded some of the Christchurch mosque shooters footage on the day of the massacre.