Send Facebook Executives to Jail for Promoting Contract Cheating Services?

Offering to write a university students' work for them has been illegal in Australia since 2020. However, when I asked Facebook to take down a post promoting such a service to Canberra students, they refused.

Perhaps it is time for TEQSA, who administer the law, to prosecute Facebook. The financial penalty is only $100,000 but the possibility of a two year jail sentence might get the attention of Facebook executives. 

What Facebook replied:

"We didn't take down ***'s post

We know that this is not what you wanted, and we thought it might help if we explain how the review process works.

Our technology helps us review reports first. This means that we can find content that goes against our Community Standards quickly and reply to people in a reasonable period of time. Some reports, such as those that might contain child exploitation, are prioritised for review by our team.

Our technology reviewed your report and, ultimately, we decided not to take the content down. If you think that we've made a mistake, you can request another review. We'll use what you've sent us to improve the technology and the reporting experience.

We understand that the content may be offensive or hurtful. Facebook is a global community, and people express themselves differently, but we only take down content that goes against our standards. We review and update our standards regularly, with the help of experts.

Thank you for helping to keep Facebook safe and welcoming for everyone."

Essay Mill Website Blocked Under Australia Law

Essay Mill Website Before Ban

Websites which offer to write assignments for students are now banned under Australian law. The first example of such an essay mill, I have seen blocked was offering anything from a one page undergraduate paper to a complete PhD thesis, for about $20 a page. The site now displays in Australia 'The service is unavailable in Australia under the "Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment" law.'. Curiously this does not give the full title of the legislation, leaving out "Prohibiting Academic Cheating". So I think this may be action by the website provider, to avoid prosecution, than by the relevant government agency. 

It is easy enough to get around this for the desperate student. The website provider can they try to deny any wrongdoing. However, the student is likely to be disappointed when, despite assurances of the supplier, their deception is detected, and they are subject to academic disciplinary procedures. Students who are studying for entry into a profession need to keep in mind that there may be very severe legal consequences if they cheat and so are not competent to do their job.