The Morrison government will introduce legislation this week to crackdown on abuse and bullying on social media platforms.

Under the laws, social media platforms will be forced to expose the identity of individuals who post defamatory or damaging material anonymously.

The government is seeking a complaints mechanism where, if somebody thinks that they are being defamed, bullied or attacked on social media, they will have an opportunity to demand the platform take it down.

Federal minister Anne Ruston says if the platform fails to comply, there will be a court process that would allow that person to require the platform to provide details of the identity of the abusive or defaming identity.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that a platform can shirk its responsibility,” Senator Ruston told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“I would really like to see any of these platforms stand up and say that they think it’s acceptable that they hide behind the anonymity of bots and bullies and bigots online.”

-AAP