The federal government’s proposed legislation on misinformation and disinformation has passed the House of Representatives, but faces a rocky time in the Senate.
Only one week after the Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowlands, agreed to withdraw proposed legislation to control “Misinformation” online – a bill roundly rejected by Parliament and by the Australian public – her department issued an apparently boring bureaucratic document which would achieve at least some of the same outcomes by stealth.
According to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, “Misinformation and disinformation pose a threat to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy”.
The Albanese government seems keen to appoint bureaucrats for the job of controlling what Australians can and cannot say in the digital public square that is social media.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has urged Canberrans not to believe COVID-19 conspiracy theories, after a misinformation campaign circulated in Garran this week.
Responsible Technology Australia (RTA) is calling for more transparency from social media platforms, after a series of misinformation campaigns have been circulating about COVID-19.
An experiment conducted by Responsible Technology Australia has raised concerns it is too easy to post misleading and fake news on Facebook and for it to remain there indefinitely.
