KEY POINTS
- The federal government has abandoned its misinformation bill.
- The bill — which some feared could infringe on freedom of speech — faced opposition in the Senate.
- Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has suggested other measures for regulating online content.
The federal government has abandoned its controversial misinformation bill due to opposition in the Senate.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced in a statement on Sunday the legislation would not proceed because there was “no pathway” in the upper house.
The scrapped legislation would have given the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) power to monitor digital platforms and require them to keep records about misinformation and disinformation on their networks.
The media watchdog would have also be able to approve an enforceable industry code of conduct or introduce standards for social media companies if self-regulation was deemed to fail.
If tech giants did not meet their obligations, they could have faced a range of penalties including fines of up to 5 per cent of their global revenue.
The bill did not cover misinformation if it’s used for parody or satire or within news, academic, artistic, scientific or religious content.
Critics from across the political spectrum .
Dr Jay Daniel Thompson, a senior lecturer from Melbourne’s RMIT University, previously told SBS News that while the bill is “well-intentioned”, he believed it had the “potential for censorship”.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, whose party was among those opposed to the bill, told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday that some sections of the proposed legislation were “very vague”. She said legislation needed to tackle algorithms that promote dangerous and harmful content.
“The practical implementation was just not there,” Hanson-Young said.
In her statement on Sunday, Rowland put forward several other proposals for regulating online content.
These included legislation targeting the sharing of; measures to enforce and reforms on regulation of .
“Mis and disinformation is an evolving threat and no single action is a perfect solution, but we must continue to imporve safeguard to ensure digital platforms offer better protections for Australians,” Rowland said.
Meanwhile, is set to sail through parliament with support of the Opposition during the final sitting week of the year next week.
How the age limit will be enforced is up to the social media platforms, but they have raised concerns about the efficacy of technology that does not unduly encroach on privacy.
Tech giants and human rights groups have also come out against a blanket social media ban saying the focus should be on creating a safe online experience, not stripping access to some of the positive benefits.
The federal government has said it would make the online environment safer for young people.
It could come into effect as early as the end of 2025 due to a minimum 12-month lead time once it passes parliament.
With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
