The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 is very concerning. The freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that underpins all free societies, and it’s important in this digital age of social media that we stay vigilant to protect this freedom.
The Bill gives a great deal of power to ACMA to force digital platforms to police ‘so called’ misinformation. Misinformation and disinformation are too often used as an excuse to shut down criticism and dissenting opinion online and there have been many things once labelled as misinformation that have turned out to be true.
Trying to impose big brother type censorship is the sort of thing governments do when they want to stop the truth from getting out. Giving ACMA the power to force foreign companies to censor free speech is simply a recipe for disaster.
The best way to counter misinformation is through respectful debate and history has shown that the censorship of speech has always been the beginning of authoritarianism.
I will be opposing this Bill along with all forms of government overreach.
