Misinformation bill flops as Greens confirm opposition
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The news: The Albanese government’s controversial misinformation bill is dead after the Greens demanded it be withdrawn.
The context: Communications Minister Michelle Rowland was forced back to the drawing board last year, after her initial plan was panned by legal experts and human rights groups.
Her revamped proposal has failed to convince the Coalition or any crossbenchers. Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young put a final nail in the bill’s coffin on Friday.
Hanson-Young said the Greens accepted a need to combat misinformation, but argued the bill handed too much power to social media platforms and “media moguls like Rupert Murdoch” to self-regulate.
With the Opposition long having been opposed, Labor needed support from the Greens and three other crossbenchers. While the government had hoped to pass it before the end of the year, it now appears unlikely to go before the Senate.
Rowland’s new plan included exemptions for religious speech, a key concern over her original proposal, and no longer carves out government material.
It would have allowed the Australian Communications and Media Authority to fine social media platforms up to 5% of global turnover if it ruled they had not self-regulated under voluntary codes.
What they said: “This bill doesn’t actually do what it needs to do when it comes to stopping the deliberate mass distribution of false and harmful information,” Hanson-Young said.
“It gives media moguls like Murdoch an exemption and hands over responsibility to tech companies and billionaires like Elon Musk to determine what is true or false under ambiguous definitions … The government should listen to community concern and withdraw this legislation.”
The source: Sarah Hanson-Young statement
