Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has announced that Labor will abandon its attempt to introduce a disinformation law.
Ms Rowland made the announcement on Sunday after revelations that the Greens, Coalition and several crossbenchers would not support the legislation.
“Based on public statements and conversations with senators, it is clear that there is no way to pass this proposal into law through the Senate,” she said in a statement.
‘The government will not proceed with the 2024 bill on the amendment of the communications legislation (combating misinformation and disinformation).
“The Government invites all parliamentarians to work with us on other proposals to strengthen democratic institutions and keep Australians safe online, while safeguarding values such as freedom of expression.
“It is up to democracies to address these challenges in a way that puts the interests of citizens first.”
The bill aimed to combat seriously harmful content on digital platforms.
Greens communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said that while the intention behind the bill was “well intentioned”, the proposed laws were “poor and poorly explained and implemented”.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has announced that Labor will abandon the introduction of a disinformation law
She is calling for stricter regulations, which would target “dangerous algorithms” and heavy financial penalties for social media companies.
“We need to get back to the real issue, which is how these companies profit from these dangerous posts,” she told the ABC.
“If you want to stop the dangerous items from spreading like wildfire, hit them where it hurts, and that’s the dollar.”
Shadow Attorney General Michaelia Cash said the bill was an attempt to “censor freedom of speech.”
“This bill is not about misinformation and disinformation,” she told Sky News.
“This bill is about the Albanian government giving bureaucrats the ability to say whether what you and I say is misinformation or disinformation.”
The bill’s scrapping marks a serious setback for Anthony Albanese’s Labor government
In October, religious groups and the human rights commissioner argued that Labour’s proposed anti-misinformation and disinformation bill would threaten freedom of expression and ‘undermine democracy’.
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said it would pose a “serious threat to Australian democracy”.
“One of our concerns about this bill is that it has the potential to stifle the processes through which knowledge moves,” said ACL researcher Elizabeth Taylor.
‘Today’s misinformation may prove to be correct tomorrow, or new information may replace established orthodox views of the time.
‘This is the process of progress.’
ACL chief executive Michelle Pearse said the bill’s provisions that would protect religious defamation were “an overreaction to the censoring of opposing views”.
Archbishop Peter A Comensoli of Melbourne also questioned who would judge what counts as misinformation and disinformation, saying more transparency was needed.
“The legislation itself does not deal with this in any way… the issue around who judges what is truthful, what is fact, rather than the content itself,” he said.
“The platforms themselves have bias.”
Australian Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay said the legislation needed “greater transparency, accountability and scrutiny mechanisms” and feared it could create “levels of dissent”.