CANBERRA: A number of tech giants have put their mark on a new Australian disinformation and misinformation code that they say will help stem online fake news.

Companies signed up to the Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation include Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, along with Microsoft and Redbubble.

In 2020, false and misleading news and information dogged the internet, spreading through 2020 in particular during the bushfires and the Covid-19 pandemic and has the potential to cause serious harm to individuals, communities and society.

Nerida O’Loughlin, ACMA.

Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) chair Nerida O’Loughlin welcomed the code as a flexible and proportionate approach to dealing with mis- and disinformation online.

“The code anticipates platforms’ actions will be graduated and proportionate to the risk of harm,” she said.

“This will assist them to strike an appropriate balance between dealing with troublesome content and the right to freedom of speech and expression.”