September 30, 2024
Opposition to the Albanese government's online misinformation bill has ramped up with a shadow minister revealing that defeating the “very bad bill” will be a “priority” for the Coalition.
Labor is pushing ahead with legislation designed to force social media companies to crack down on misinformation and disinformation on their platforms, with the date for public submissions on the bill closing on Monday.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland introduced a revised version of the bill earlier this month after widespread opposition forced the government to abandon a previous draft of the legislation.
However the government’s claim the revised version better protects freedom of expression has been dismissed by critics, with free speech advocates calling it an “attack on our freedoms”.
Speaking about the issue on Monday, shadow finance minister Jane Hume said the Coalition would deliver its own policy to combat misinformation ahead of the next election but “our priority right now must be defeating this very bad bill”.
The Liberal Senator said in the Coalition's view there were at least “three things... very wrong with this bill”.
“The first is that the social media companies have unprecedented powers to decide what is misinformation. Of course, they won't be punished if they take down too much, but they will be punished if they leave up too much. So there is an incentive, if you like, to censor public opinion,” Senator Hume said.
“The second issue is that it creates two tiers of public opinion. If you're an academic, you can say whatever you want, and that won't be misinformation. But if you disagree with an academic, if you're an ordinary Australian… well that could be considered misinformation.
“And finally, there are unprecedented levels of power that have been bestowed upon the minister. That's something we feel very uncomfortable with.”
Senator Hume also called out the government for having such a short window for public comment when there had been tens of thousands of responses to the original draft.
“This is the second time Labor have had a go at this… there were 24,000 public submissions against that first bill. Amazingly, for this bill, they only gave one week for submissions to be made,” she said.
If passed, the new laws would empower the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to impose fines of up to five per cent of global revenue on social media platforms that fail to adequately crack down on misinformation and disinformation on their platforms.
The regulator will also be given new powers to approve enforceable industry codes for dealing with misinformation and disinformation, or make standards itself, if it deems platforms have failed to address the issue through self-regulation.
The bill defines misinformation as content that is “verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive” and “reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm” , with the definition of “serious harm” including “imminent harm to the Australian economy… harm to public confidence in the banking system or financial markets”.
Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite denied the bill posed a threat to free speech on Monday, telling Sky News Australia it simply ensured online platforms have codes of practice to deal with misinformation, just like the mainstream media.
“It’s not all at all about what's factual and what's not. It's about making sure that these platforms have codes of practice and policies to deal with misinformation,” he said.
“All we're ensuring is that the online platforms have similar codes of practice and policies in place to ensure that they're publishing the correct and truthful information as the mainstream media have.
“It's ensuring that Australians get access to good quality media.”
When challenged on why the government should be the arbiter of what is true, the minister said that it was proper for governments to make rules to “ensure that we have integrity in our media system”, and online platforms were no different.
Multiple groups are running public campaigns against the legislation, with one petition prepared by the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance and former Nationals senator George Christensen already having garnered more than 21,000 signatories.
The petition claims that under the bill “unelected bureaucrats will have the power to control the flow of information”.
“This Bill gives the government unchecked power over what you say online… Big Tech will be ordered to enforce the government’s narrative, censoring anything deemed ‘misinformation’,” the petition states.
“Think it won’t affect you? Think again. If you challenge government policies, criticise election outcomes, or question health advice, your posts could be erased without warning.”
Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance executive director Brian Marlow said that during the recent Voice referendum Australians had seen “multiple activist organisations and Yes campaigners try and use the term misinformation to try and discredit the No campaign”.
“We saw Australian universities team up with tech giants to try and silence coverage of the no campaign and try to influence voters,” Mr Marlow told SkyNews.com.au.
“Now, instead of accepting that they lost the referendum, a number of yes campaigners are supporting the government's efforts to crush political messaging and online discourse via the misinformation bill.”
When asked what the Coalition would propose as an alternative to the bill, shadow home affairs minister James Paterson pointed to a recent senate inquiry into foreign interference.
"We have offered alternatives, because I do think that foreign state-originated disinformation is a real problem,” Mr Paterson told Sky News Australia.
“We made 17 recommendations in a bipartisan report, and the principle of those recommendations was we should have transparency, not censorship.
“So instead of censoring people's legitimately held political beliefs, you should instead label the foreign state actors who are active on these portfolios as foreign state actors, so that people can be informed.
“You should require the platforms themselves… to be transparent about their relationship with foreign governments and any editorial imposition on those platforms from those foreign governments. So that Australians can be informed both about the content on the platforms and the platforms themselves.
“That is a way of addressing these serious issues without censoring anyone's opinions.”
However Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hit out at the Coalition for opposing the bill, accusing them of "running a protection racket for big tech".
“We think misinformation and disinformation is a big threat to people’s safety, and to our society, and to our economy as well. And we want to hold the big tech platforms to account," the Treasurer told Sky News Australia.
“The steps that we are taking when it comes to misinformation and disinformation are about protecting, and cherishing, and advancing free speech; not censoring it."
