Colin Packham

CANBERRA, Reuters – Australia’s Prime minister Scott Morrison announced Wednesday that a parliamentary investigation into the conduct of some of the largest tech companies in the world and recommendations for legislation will be made. Australia is a leader in global efforts to limit the power of Alphabet and Facebook, installing legislation that was widely praised as an example for other countries to follow.

Morrison raised the possibility that additional regulation is possible. He will state Wednesday that the new inquiry would have a broad scope but include the request of the committee members to inquire into the algorithms used on social media platforms. How companies verify identity and age, and how restrictions are enforced.

Morrison, according to excerpts of the announcement seen by Reuters: “Big tech still has big questions,”

“Big tech created these platforms, they have a responsibility to ensure they’re safe.”

Australia’s government is expected to increase tensions with Facebook over the announcement of a new investigation. Facebook has recently been renamed Meta and Google.

Australia introduced tough legislation earlier in the year that allowed tech companies to pay local media outlets for content. Canberra proposed new laws which would require that they share identities of individuals with anonymized accounts, in case another person is accusing them of defamation.

Australia had proposed legislation that would have required the companies to pay local media content. Google responded by threatening to stop its Australian search engine. Facebook also cut third-party content in Australian accounts for more then a week.

Following a series amendments to the legislation, they both reached deals with Australian media companies.

By February 15, 2022, the findings of the inquiry by the committee responsible will be reported back to you.