Australia will introduce a law that will force major social media outlets to provide details and data about users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday.

The government is considering the level of accountability of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for defamatory material posted on their sites.

This comes after the country's highest court ruled that publishers could be held accountable for public comments on online forums.

The ruling prompted some media companies, such as CNN, to deny Australians access to their Facebook pages.

"The world of the internet and social networks should not be the Wild West, where bots, fanatics, trolls and others are circling anonymously and can harm people. "It can not happen in the real world, so there is no reason for it to happen in the digital world either," Morrison told a television news briefing.

The new law will introduce a grievance mechanism.

If someone thinks they have been slandered, harassed or attacked on social media, they can ask the platform to remove the material.

If the content is not withdrawn, the lawsuit could force the social media platform to provide details about the commenter.

"Digital platforms must have appropriate processes in place to enable the removal of this content. "They have created space and they have to make it safe, and if they do not, we will do it through such laws."said Morrison.