The Federal Government has decided to abandon its bill aimed at combatting online misinformation and disinformation.
This legislation was introduced earlier this year after a previous version of the bill was delayed over concerns about freedom of speech suppression — including from the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
This week, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland issued a statement confirming the Government would not move forward with the bill.
It comes during Parliament’s last sitting week for the year.
Background
The main difference between ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ is intent. Misinformation can include unintentional spreading of harmful false information. Contrastingly, disinformation usually refers to deliberate campaigns to do so (such as bots or spam).
Labor introduced its misinformation and disinformation bill to the Federal Parliament earlier this year.
The legislation was aimed at tackling the spread of false or inaccurate information on social media platforms.
The Government previously released a draft bill on this matter. However, it was criticised for including broad definitions for terms like ‘misinformation’, ‘disinformation’ and ‘harm’.
At the time, the AHRC said the initial legislation was “broad and vague“.
The Coalition argued it would “lead to digital companies self-censoring the legitimately held views of Australians to avoid the risk of massive fines”.
Labor introduced a revised bill to address these concerns in September.
Revised bill
The new bill defined misinformation or disinformation as content that is verifiably false, misleading, deceptive, or can contribute to “serious harm”.
Its definition of serious harm included: harm to the operation of government or public health, the vilification of a group, and physical injury.
The proposal included fines for digital platforms of up to 5% of annual global revenue for breaches.
Compliance would be monitored by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
“No pathway”
The Government doesn’t have a majority in the Senate. It needs the support of the Opposition, or the Greens and some independents to pass laws.
Its revised misinformation bill failed to win support from the Coalition, while the Greens called for it to be “withdrawn”.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced the Government would “not proceed” with the bill on Sunday. “There is no pathway to legislate this proposal,” she said.
Response
Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman said the Government’s decision to abandon the misinformation bill is “a win for the free speech for all Australians.”
Coleman said the bill “would have seen online platforms censor content “to avoid the threat of big fines.”
Greens spokesperson for communications Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said, “Mis and disinformation is a growing danger to democracy”. However, she argued the bill would do “little to stop non-human actors like bots flooding social media and boosting dangerous algorithms.“
Alternatives
Rowland accused the Opposition of prioritising politics over “any attempt to navigate the public interest”.
She called on “all Parliamentarians” to work with the Government on measures to improve online safety, “while safeguarding values like freedom of expression.”
Rowland listed alternate proposals to the mis and disinformation legislation. This included harsher penalties for the non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit deepfakes, and reforms to regulate Artificial Intelligence.
