This appeared this morning:
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland confirms Misinformation and Disinformation Bill will be pulled
Proposed laws aimed at targeting misinformation and disinformation proliferating social media have been culled after it failed to garner support.
November 24, 2024 - 10:16AM
NewsWire
Sky News can reveal the government will dump its misinformation and disinformation bill after it became clear the Opposition and Greens would oppose the bill in the Senate.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has confirmed the government will pull a controversial Bill attempting to combat misinformation and disinformation after the Opposition and the Greens vowed to oppose it.
The Bill, which aimed to combat seriously harmful content on digital platforms will be scrapped in the Senate, with the government acknowledging there was “no pathway” for the Bill to succeed.
The proposed legislation was also opposed by a wide-ranging group of community groups, free speech organisations and religious groups over concerns it would harm free speech, with stakeholders questioning how the definition of truth would be enforced.
However, Ms Rowland accused the Coalition of playing politics.
“The Coalition committed to legislating safeguards when in government, but chose to place partisanship above any attempt to navigate the public interest,” she said.
Despite the setback, Ms Rowland said there needed to be “safeguards” to protect Australians from misinformation and disinformation, and urged MPs and senators to work with Labor on alternative concessions.
“Mis-and disinformation is an evolving threat and no single action is a perfect solution, but we must continue to improve safeguards to ensure digital platforms offer better protections for Australians,” she said.
She listed alternative proposals like legislation to strengthen offences targeting the sharing of non-consensual and sexually explicit deep fakes, a proposal to enforce truth in political advertising for elections, and stronger regulations around artificial intelligence.
Greens’ communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said that while the intent behind the Bill was “well-meaning,” the proposed laws were “badly and poorly explained and implemented”.
She’s called for stronger regulation, which would target “dangerous algorithms” and heavy financial penalties for social media companies.
“We’ve got to get back to the real problem, and that is how these companies profit off these dangerous posts. If you want to stop the dangerous posts spreading like wildfire, hit them where it hurts, and that’s the dollar,” she told the ABC.
Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash said the Bill was an attempt to “censor free speech”.
“This Bill is not about misinformation and disinformation… This Bill is about the Albanese government giving bureaucrats the ability to say whether what you and I say is misinformation or disinformation,” she told Sky.
Here is the link:
I have to say that I think this is a very good outcome and that the Minister should just pop back in her box with this sort of censorious proposal!
Within obvious reason we should all be free to say what we like and let what we say be judged on its merits – just as this post should be!
Clearly there are limits to what can be said – defamatory statements, offensive and dangerous deep-fakes etc. – but outside those limits we should be free to say what we like. We have laws to cover that goes over-the-top and pretty sensible judges to regulate significant offending etc. so it is reasonable to let people have their say – hate crimes, flagrant offensiveness and dangerous untruths etc. will be weeded out rapidly I reckon as they are mostly already illegal!
What limits, for example, do people think should apply to commentary on this blog?
David.
We will find it either a short pause before they push it again, or they will be less transparent. As for your blog, David, I am sure some want it shut down. However, they have killed the National conversation because what they heard was not in their interest, much like this new set of amendments to the My Health Record Act. Quietly, they have established a government solution as the de facto standard all must comply with.
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