Has Australia introduced social credit for internet access? – Salvation

Question asked by Jo on Dec 13th

A video from Australian television news is being shared on social media in France and abroad that in Australia, “social credit [est] provided to access the Internet through your digital ID. Citizens need 100 identity points to use [réseaux] social media and the police will access your accounts including private messaging”.

These images are not new as they were taken From a thread posted on April 1, 2021 by news channel 9 News Australia. The presenter Leyla McKinnon says about it“Radical plan to tackle social media abuse under consideration by federal government”. Then colleague Oliver Hague elaborates “in fact, [le plan] it will work the same way as a passport. Australians will be required to show 100 ID along with their driver’s license or passport when using social media or their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Now the police will have access to these social media accounts. This measure is part of the fight against online abuse. Users may be prosecuted for defamation, or even criminally prosecuted. It’s all part of a plan to deter people from bad behavior. [en ligne]. The recommendations were made by a federal parliamentary inquiry. Their reforms are being reviewed by the Morrison government, with the president saying it is important to end the notorious nature of anonymity.

ID system

First of all, there is no question of social credit like in China, which bans access to certain sites for people with bad grades or bad behavior. In Australia, each identity document has a point value (a valid passport or birth certificate is worth 70 points, a student card is worth 40 points) and therefore you need to present several of them for certain services. The concept of 100 points of identification refers to the Australian identity documentation system. For example, to open a bank account in Australia, a person must provide the equivalent of 100 points.

The idea of ​​introducing 100 ID cards and ID cards required to access social media was a proposal of an Australian parliamentary working group presented in April 2021, according to broadcast reporters. Recommendation 30 “To open or maintain an account on an existing social network, users are required by law to identify themselves on a platform that uses 100 points of identification, just as a person must provide identification for a mobile phone account or purchase a mobile SIM card” and “Social media platforms must provide these credentials when requested by the Cybersecurity Commissioner, law enforcement or a court of law.”.

Law against trolling

However, this idea was never retained in the Social Networks (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2022, which was never voted on. Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party planned to introduce an anti-internet trolling law to allow Australians to easily and quickly complain to social media platforms to have defamatory content removed. Its application has been sharply criticized by various experts, who are convinced that it can have the opposite effect. In May 2022, Scott Morrison promised that this law would be one of the first projects to be voted on if he were re-elected. But he was not re-elected and so his bill was defeated in a Labor victory in parliament.