The fight to stop the Government's Misinformation and Disinformation (MAD) Bill is just getting started.
For those of you who may not be aware of how bad the proposed bill is and what it means for online discourse and free speech, I have put together a short thread you can read here: https://x.com/BrianTaxpayers/status/1834058204315337000Labor will expand its plans to crack down on lies on social media by adding political content into misinformation laws before the federal election, setting up a dispute in parliament about whether the revised plan will curb free speech.
The bill gives federal authorities the power to force tech giants to act on alerts about damaging falsehoods and stop them spreading before they cause serious harm, citing the lies spread about the Bondi Junction knife attack this year as proof of the need for tougher laws.
But the revised draft retains a controversial feature that allows ministers to ask the Australian Communications and Media Authority to investigate a social media platform, despite Coalition calls for this to be removed because it could allow political leaders to meddle in decisions.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will put the misinformation bill to parliament on Thursday in a bid to resolve more than a year of disputes over drafts that triggered objections from the Law Council of Australia and civil liberties groups about the threat to free speech.
The plan keeps exemptions for the media and will also ensure that satire, parody and religious content will be protected, but it now includes political communications. (further evidence that 'the media' is and always has been an official propaganda channel for all government)
The Bondi Junction knife attack on April 14 sparked false claims on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that the attacker was a Muslim and also false posts that he was a Jew, leading the Seven Network to name the wrong man for the murder of six people. (But if the MSM are exempted from this draconian action how it stop them from spreading 'misinformation' as per this example?)The scheme does not give ACMA the power to prosecute individuals who make false claims., although they can order content moderators to explain how they handle questionable posts. (Do you believe them after what is happening in England right now?)
The federal authority will instead require the social media platforms to set up clear schemes to act on the spread of falsehoods, and could issue warnings or remedial directions if they fail to do so.
"Rowland said doing nothing was not an option because misinformation posed a serious threat to society." (lols) (Well OK, government disinformation is totally a threat to society, is that what she meant?)
"“I think we need to make sure that adults can be adults, but children can be children,”" (While Vic Labour is allowing groomers and sexual material access to kids as young as five? Sure Albo, pull the other one.)
