Digital harms and penalties: Australian regulation, platform moderation and the figure of the perpetrator

The Australian regulatory framework that relates to the management of contemporary online harms emphasises the role of platforms in managing and policing infractions and has legislated civil penalties for their non-compliance. Although importantly shifting responsibility towards previously-exempt platforms, this approach contrasts with earlier regulatory options in which individual perpetrators were subject to penalties for harms they cause to others. This article discusses the regulatory framework, and the ways in which management the outsourcing to platforms of harm management not only foregoes procedural justice and due process but misses an opportunity to shape digital citizenship through the potential pedagogies of emphasising a penal regime. We analyse platform penalisation practices and present data from a survey of Australians that demonstrates public support for government penalties for perpetrators. We argue that extending the framework to penalise perpetrators in Australia not only aligns penalisation with remedial and restorative justice approaches, but helps shape community standards and expectations for safe online behaviour.