This week began with an extraordinary decision of the Federal Court to uphold a finding that Senator Pauline Hanson has breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 for a social media post directed to another parliamentarian, Senator Maureen Faruqi.

The key thing to know about this case is this: a politician on the left, Senator Faruqi, was able to use the law to shut down and cancel a politician on the right – and this has now been twice endorsed by the courts.

As Dr Andrew Bushnell, the Director of the Law and Freedom Program at the IPA, noted on Monday:

"Section 18C is illiberal, undemocratic, and can and has been used on multiple occasions to shut down debate and censor political opponents.

If they can come after a high-profile political figure such as Senator Hanson, then they can come after any Australian who wants to express their opinion on matters considered contentious to the political elites."

Which brings us to the government's attitude to the restriction of internet speech. According to home affairs minister Tony Burke the real radicalisation problem in Australia comes not from mass migration but from Australians using the internet. When asked whether he was concerned with importing sectarian hatreds, Mr Burke said:

"I worry when the public debate has this whole focus on immigration as though that's how radical ideas are coming to Australia when overwhelmingly we have a challenge in radicalisation online and what's coming across the browser."

This sheds a light on how we should expect the governments proposed "digital duty of care" to work in practice. Despite being pushed to drop its unpopular internet misinformation laws in 2024, the federal government has remained committed to legislating a new duty on all online services (including social media, messaging apps, and search engines) to eliminate the risk of harms – including threats to social cohesion (as flagged in a government review of the Online Safety Act at the time the policy was adopted).

From 18C to misinformation, the IPA has led the debate on highlighting the dangers of government censorship and threats to freedom of speech – and that work continues thanks to your support.

Regards,

Morgan Begg
Director of Research