Australian Human Rights Commission Human Rights in the Digital Age: Additional Material Submitted to the UN Global Digital Compact, 30 April 2023 platforms in Australia evolve toward an enforceable legal framework drafted by regulators and lawmakers and overseen by an appropriately resourced and empowered regulator.56 90. This view differs from the co-regulatory model proposed in respect of human rights more broadly. However, the move away from a co-regulatory model in respect of countering discriminatory and misleading content is needed due to the profound harm it causes and difficulty in policing it. The Compact must recognise the need for countries to introduce domestic legislation which provides an enforceable legal framework to counter discriminatory and misleading content. Recommendation 17: Countries should introduce enforceable domestic legislation which requires social media platforms to better counter discriminatory and misleading content. 91. Again, a large part of combatting discriminatory and misleading content online is by developing and deploying technologies which are not discriminatory or misleading in the first place – or that are at least capable of combatting such content upon deployment. 6.2 Freedom of expression 92. Social media platforms, which function as a digital ‘town square’ for free speech and self-expression, are increasingly affected by censorship. The right to freedom of expression is often challenged in digital commons as users to seek to express their views on a wide range of topics. 93. However, there is often a competing tension on where to draw the line between freedom of expression and content moderation. This is a line where reasonable minds may differ – however moderation should not unduly impact free speech, nor should hateful content be allowed to prosper under the guise of freedom of expression. 94. Transparency is the key to ensuring that any regulation which censors content does not unduly restrict the exercise of free speech. Where topdown regulation is utilised to counter discriminatory and misleading content, such regulation must maintain transparency in how they determine what content is to be moderated or censored to avoid producing a chilling effect on freedom of expression and democratic engagement online. 21