CANBERRA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will lead a push for the G20 to bring order to "ungoverned" social media platforms.
In a letter to G20 Chairman Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, published by News Corp Australia on Tuesday, Morrison asked for social media governance to be made the top priority at the next meeting of world leaders in June.
The letter was written after the terror attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, amidst revelations that the suspected gunman, 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, who was charged with murder, was inspired by right-wing ideologies spread on social media.
Friday's terror attacks have so far left 50 people killed and 50 others injured.
Morrison questioned the "unrestricted role played by internet technologies in this and other terrorist attacks" and called on his fellow leaders to "ensure that there are clear consequences, not only for those who carry out such horrific acts, but for those who facilitate them."
Friday's attacks were live-streamed on Facebook and quickly spread on other platforms including Twitter and YouTube.
Morrison said the technology giants should be compelled to act quickly in "removing of content by actors who encourage, normalize, recruit, facilitate or commit terrorist and violent activities."
"It is unacceptable to treat the internet as an ungoverned space," he wrote.
"It is imperative that the global community works together to ensure that technology firms meet their moral obligation to protect the communities which they serve and from which they profit."
His sentiment was similar to that expressed by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who on Monday told reporters that the technology companies could do more in the fight against hate speech.
Meanwhile, Morrison told News Corp that the companies "can't operate as if the law doesn't apply to them."
"Today's technology means this type of content can be identified quickly and automatically, without having to wait for someone to phone it in. This is insufficient.
"There is no doubt they can develop the technological capability to... address this issue. The question is whether there is the will to make it happen."
In a column appearing in News Corp's newspapers on Tuesday, Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party, wrote that social media platforms "have an obligation to better monitor and prevent hate speech."
