The federal government is considering a legally binding “duty of care” for social media platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat, if their users are hurt by bad behaviour or bullied online.

The threat comes after a Senate committee inquiry found social media giants are ignoring complaints by victims, The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.

Acknowledging a spate of cyber-bullying linked to suicides such as that of 14-year-old Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield says if online platforms don’t act against “creeps and cowards” then the government will.

“The thought of any child being bullied sickens us all, which is why the government is coming after them,” Senator Fifield said.

Clearly social media organisations need to lift their game, take more care and be more transparent.”

The minister said the government was closely examining the Senate committee’s final report and its recommendations.

Facebook is under pressure on another front as it prepares to reveal the identity of around 300,000 Australian users who had their account information shared with the British political consulting agency Cambridge Analytica.

The social media behemoth is expected from Monday afternoon to notify the 87 million users worldwide whose data may have been unknowingly and “improperly” shared with the British political consulting agency.

About one in 50 Australian users and one in every three American users are among those affected.

Cambridge Analytica developed controversial tools for use in political campaigns and worked on Donald Trump’s run for US president.

It says it received data on 30 million users but never used that information in the 2016 campaign.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant will also show each of its 2.2 billion users a message prompting them to review the apps and websites connected to their account.

The Privacy Commissioner is investigating whether Facebook breached the Privacy Act, which requires organisations meet certain obligations including taking reasonable steps to ensure personal information is held securely.

Facebook has lost $100 billion of its sharemarket value since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke three weeks ago.

It last week suspended another political consulting firm amid media reports it had ties to Cambridge Analytica and received more than $4.5 million during Brexit from the triumphant Vote Leave campaign

The Canadian-based AggregateIQ says it has never been part of Cambridge Analytica or parent company SCL and has never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica.

-with AAP