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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian prime minister on Thursday called social media a “palace of cowards” and warned that digital platforms, including Facebook, should be held accountable for defamatory comments posted anonymously.

Anonymous commenters who use social media to defame and bully have become the latest battleground between Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government and US tech giants. The government wants social media users to be asked to identify themselves.

Australia passed laws this year forcing Google and Facebook to pay for journalism. Australia has also challenged tech companies by enacting a law that could imprison social media executives if their platforms posted violent images.

Morrison Platforms that do not disclose the identities of those who make defamatory comments should be held responsible for these comments.

“Cowards who anonymously access social media and defame, harass, bully, and make defamatory statements should be held accountable for what they say.” Morrison said.

“Social media has become a palace of cowards, where people can go there without telling who they are and ruin people’s lives and say the most disgusting and offensive things to people and do it with impunity.” he Additional.

Her It comes as Australian state and territory governments rush to rewrite defamation laws after the Supreme Court last month ruled that media outlets could be held responsible for defamatory comments posted on Facebook pages by third parties, after the Supreme Court set a precedent for the internet age.

The court did not decide whether Facebook was also responsible as the platform was not sued.

The precedent applies to administrators of all Facebook pages, including governments. The Tasmanian state government has blocked comments from social media sites, and US news outlet CNN has removed Australians from its Facebook page.

Morrison said the need for platforms to identify commentators is a target her the government will “bend even more”.