by Eric Worrall, Watts Up With That:
As Australia approaches its next cycle of state and federal elections, the radical Aussie Federal Government is pushing laws which could silence media criticism of their key policy positions.
‘Attack on our freedoms’: Government’s revised online misinformation bill slammed as ‘chilling assault’ on free speech
Labor’s new online misinformation bill has been slammed as a “chilling assault” on freedom of speech, with critics claiming the government’s definition of “serious harm” could capture “any difference of opinion”.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland introduced the legislation to Parliament on Thursday, claiming misinformation and disinformation pose a “serious threat” to Australian’s “safety and wellbeing” as well as “our democracy, society and economy”.
The Albanese government was forced to abandon a previous draft version of the laws after they were widely condemned by everyone from media organisations and tech companies to civil liberties groups and even the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Minister Rowland said the government had listened to the feedback and the new legislation had been revised to “carefully balance the public interest in combatting seriously harmful misinformation and disinformation with the freedom of expression that is so fundamental to our democracy”.
But critics are already lining up to attack the bill, with the Institute of Public Affairs describing the legislation as “the single biggest attack on freedom of speech in Australia’s peacetime history”.
“Misinformation legislation introduced into federal parliament today represents a chilling assault on every Australian’s right to free speech. The new Bill broadens provisions to censor speech, which even the government’s fatally flawed first draft did not include,” said John Storey, the Director of Law and Policy at the IPA.
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The Institute of Public Affairs has this to say about the new laws.
Revised Misinformation Laws Amp Up Assault On Free Speech
Written by: John Storey
12 September 2024“Misinformation legislation introduced into federal parliament today represents a chilling assault on every Australian’s right to free speech. The new Bill broadens provisions to censor speech, which even the government’s fatally flawed first draft did not include,” said John Storey, Director of Law and Policy at the Institute of Public Affairs.
The revised Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 grants the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) enormous power to fine social media companies if they are found to have failed to properly censor ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’. The new Bill contains three fundamental flaws:
- A revised definition of ‘misinformation’ to mean content that is ‘verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive’ would create legal powers for politically biased fact-checkers to determine what is true and false (Clauses 13(1) and 13(2)).
- It creates an unelected and unaccountable star chamber bureaucracy with the power to launch investigations and hearings to ensure compliance with censorship guidelines that can target mainstream Australians (Schedule 2, Clause 2).
- A new definition of ‘serious harm’ is even broader than the first bill and can potentially capture any difference of opinion (Clause 14).
“The government’s proposed ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ laws are the single biggest attack on freedom of speech in Australia’s peacetime history, and have no place in a liberal democracy such as Australia,” said Mr Storey.
“The big tech companies will become the censorship and enforcement arm of the federal government to shut down debate and speech that it disagrees with.”
“Under these laws even the truth will be no defence. If a citizen were to disseminate information which was factually true, but ACMA or a fact checker labelled it ‘misleading’ or ‘deceptive’ because it ‘lacked context’, then that information would fall within the scope of these laws,” said Mr Storey.
The revised legislation has not taken into account the deep concern of many mainstream Australians who can now be targeted by an unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy for prosecution for simply stating genuinely held opinions online.
“The federal government has not listened to the concerns about free speech raised by mainstream Australians. Instead, they are pandering to its political base by actually broadening the censorship powers of ACMA, such as introducing by stealth a change to the definition of ‘harm’ to include ‘vilification’,” said Mr Storey.
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