The Next Level of Censorship is Coming to Australia By James Reed
This is a great concern, and needs to be addressed by all supporters of free speech and liberty. The Albanese government is moving to release legislation which will give the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) powers to hold digital platforms to account for spreading what the Albo regime will define as “harmful fake news.” This is so-called mis- and disinformation, and the social media companies will face massive fines if content is not controlled, with the maximum penalty for “systemic breaches of a registered code” being $2.75 million or 2 per cent of global turnover, whichever is higher; it could run into the billions. It is said that this new piece of tyranny will not apply to individual pieces of content, authorised electoral material or professional news content, but it is clear that what the tyrannical Albo regime wants to censor is precisely individual content, like criticisms of Big Pharma.
There will be an opportunity for the public to comment, and when more information is available, the blog will detail it, as we continue the relentless battle to preserve what little remains of the liberal ideal of free speech.
“Social media giants will be hit with millions of dollars in fines if they repeatedly fail to remove disinformation and misinformation from their platforms under a major crackdown by the Albanese government.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will on Sunday release draft legislation to give the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) powers to hold digital platforms to account for spreading harmful fake news.
“Mis- and disinformation sows division within the community, undermines trust and can threaten public health and safety,” Rowland said.
“The Albanese government is committed to keeping Australians safe online, and that includes ensuring the ACMA has the powers it needs to hold digital platforms to account for mis- and disinformation on their services.”
Under the proposed laws, the authority would be able to impose a new “code” on specific companies that repeatedly fail to combat misinformation and disinformation or an industry-wide “standard” to force digital platforms to remove harmful content.
The maximum penalty for systemic breaches of a registered code would be $2.75 million or 2 per cent of global turnover – whichever is higher.
The maximum penalty for breaching an industry standard would be $6.88 million, or 5 per cent of a company’s global turnover. In the case of Facebook’s owner, Meta, for example, the maximum penalty could amount to a fine of more than $8 billion.
Codes or standards could include requiring platforms to have better tools to identify and report misinformation, a more robust complaint handling processes and greater use of fact-checkers.
Under the proposed laws, the ACMA would also be able to obtain information and documents from digital platforms relating to misinformation and disinformation on their services. But the government says the ACMA would not have a role in determining what is true or false.
The proposed powers will not apply to individual pieces of content, authorised electoral material or professional news content.
The draft legislation will go out for public consultation from Sunday, which Rowland said would give companies and the public the chance to have their say.
Rowland said the laws aimed to “strike the right balance between protection from harmful mis- and disinformation online and freedom of speech”.
“I encourage all stakeholders to make a submission and look forward to introducing the bill into parliament later this year, following the consultation process,” she said.
Western governments have shown a growing concern over the threat of authoritarian countries spreading disinformation to sow dissent within democracies.
The European Union enacted new laws in a similar crackdown on social media companies last year, which include fines of up to 6 per cent of global turnover.
In Australia, there has been growing concern about the proliferation of misinformation and hate speech over the Voice to parliament referendum.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess last month said his agency was “on the lookout” for attempts by other countries to interfere in the referendum.
Tech giants have been expecting Australia to introduce a voluntary code of practice for years.
Social media companies are increasingly self-regulating and last month several tech giants released transparency reports under a voluntary code, where they detailed efforts to minimise harm from misinformation published on their platforms over the previous year.
Google removed more than 300,000 videos from YouTube for containing dangerous or misleading COVID-19 information, including 3000 uploaded from Australia.
Meta “took action” on more than 91,000 pieces of content across Facebook and Instagram for violating its misinformation policies.”
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