‘Keep Australia safe’: dystopian draft bill against ‘misinformation’ unveiled

A draft bill by the Australian government is warning tech and social media giants to remove misinformation from their platforms or face hefty fines.

new draft Bill The country’s media regulator – the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) – will be given the power to mandate digital platforms such as Google and Facebook to maintain records relating to misinformation and disinformation on their platforms.

These companies will be required to hand over these records when asked by the ACMA.

Additionally, the ACMA will be able to request and enforce an industry-wide “code of practice” that introduces new measures to combat misinformation. ACMA will be able to create and enforce its own industry standard.

Any breach of this proposed new standard could see tech giants face hefty maximum fines of up to $4.6 million ($6.88 million AUD) or 5% of global turnover. For perspective, 5% of Facebook’s parent company Meta’s global turnover is approximately $5.3 billion ($8 billion AUD).

June 26 according to ABC reportsFederal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the current Labor government was “committed to keeping Australians safe online.”

According to Rowland, the new bill will ensure that “the ACMA has the necessary powers to contain digital platforms for misinformation and disinformation on its services.”

Rowland said the bill would allow the AMCA to “see what the platforms are doing and what measures they are taking to ensure compliance.”

Online safety is a shared responsibility. We all have a role to play in protecting Australians from scams, misinformation and disinformation, and cyber abuse.

Today I met with the Meta team, including their Global Vice President for Public Policy, Joel Kaplan, to discuss how we can make this happen. pic.twitter.com/l8BiKS1yee

— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) 6 June 2023

Some are concerned that the proposed law could have a significant impact on freedom of speech, especially considering the bill’s definition of misinformation — which is open to interpretation.

The draft Bill defines misinformation as “unintentionally false, misleading or deceptive material”. Disinformation is defined as “false information intentionally spread to cause serious harm”.

Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman of the opposition Liberal Party expressed his concerns, saying that “this is a complex area of ​​policy and government overreach should be avoided”.

“The public would like to know who actually decides whether a particular piece of content is misinformation or disinformation,” he said.

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public Counseling The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023 expires on Sunday, 6 August.

The Australian government has been trying hard to bring tech giants on board for some time now. On August 12, Google cough Fined A$40 million ($60 million AUD) for misleading Australian consumers about data collection.

In February 2021, Facebook will temporarily banned Australian users have been blocked from viewing or sharing news content on their newsfeeds after an escalating clash with the government over proposed media bargaining laws.

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