Australia wants to fine networks that don’t censor “misinformation”

The Australian government introduced a bill to Parliament on Thursday (12) on online disinformation that would allow fines – up to 5% of global revenue – to social media platforms that fail to remove posts deemed “seriously harmful” or “misleading”.

The matter presented by the Minister of Communications, Michelle Rowland, is part of a broad regulatory crackdown in the country, which fears that big techs domiciled abroad are replacing national sovereignty.

The bill targets content that could be harmful to electoral integrity and health, that is offensive or condemnatory of a group or person, or that puts national infrastructure and emergency services at risk. The “reasonable dissemination” of content for academic, artistic, scientific or religious purposes would be exempt in this case.

The government’s idea is for technology platforms to define rules, to be approved by a regulatory body, to prevent the dissemination of false information. Fines would be imposed if these tools are not applied.

“(Digital platforms) can serve as a vehicle for the dissemination of misleading or false information that is seriously harmful to the health, safety and wellbeing of Australians,” Rowland said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The government proposal caused a reaction from the opposition and institutions that defend freedom of expression in the country, such as the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) and the Free Speech Union.

“How one decides whether content contains information that is ‘reasonably verifiable as false or misleading’ is as clear as mud,” Reuben Kirkham, co-director of the Free Speech Union in Australia, told Sky News.

IPA Director of Law and Policy John Storey told the outlet that the proposed legislation “represents a chilling attack on the right to freedom of expression for all Australians. The new bill expands provisions to censor speech that even the government’s fatally flawed first draft did not include.”

In an interview with the agency ReutersAustralia’s opposition spokesman James Paterson said he had not yet reviewed the government’s revised version of the bill, but stressed that “the legitimate political beliefs of Australians should not be censored by either the government or foreign social media platforms.”

Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X and one of the leading advocates for freedom of expression today, called the measure “Fascist”, when reposting a post that states: “Australia wants to fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of so-called misinformation online”. The post was accessed by People’s Gazette from a connection outside Brazil.