The Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, is the latest critic of Albanese's "deeply flawed Misinformation plan". (The National Tribune).

Ms. Finlay reports that authorised government content is "excluded from being deemed as misinformation", failing to acknowledge the reality that misinformation and disinformation can, and does, come from the government. (Just do some revision on the Covid 'truths').

But, in this Bill, government content can never be misinformation, but content critical of the government produced by political opponents might be misinformation disinformation!

The "overly broad" definition of the words, plus 'harm' risk unpopular or controversial beliefs being labelled and censored.

'Harm', for heaven's sake, just has to be "reasonably likely to cause harm or contribute to serious harm". By whose definition?

There are risks in giving a single body (ACMA, e,g) power to decide what is misinformation; power which could be used to restrict public debate and censor unpopular opinions.

All of which some of us already knew.

Albanese is our leading 'misinformer'. A year ago he spruiked the Voice referendum for 3%"of the population as a "unifying moment". And just look at us now! He has told lie after lie about the whole shemozzle: lies, proven to be lies, by some of the very people behind the Voice.

And, this is the bloke who wants to muzzle and censor us! This is the bloke who is part of the political class that spread lies and fear during Covid. We can no longer believe our politicians; and we certainly cannot sit back and allow them to dictate what we can say or not say. The gall of Albanese and his plans to censor us appalling.

I speak only for myself, but I never imagined, at even the lowest point of my disgust with Australian politicians, that we would ever be landed with a PM like Albanese and the totalitarian stunts he has been trying to pull in the last twelve months or so.

For ttbn.

Do you think censorship is an issue for debate on moral grounds, or is the issue strictly one of political ideology.

There was a time in the recent past when our more theocratic rulers endorsed censorship, and most citizens complainingly accepted it.

DD

It's what you think about it that should be important to you.

The current bill is directed solely at encouraging digital
platform providers to have robust and transparent systems
and measures in place to address what
the platforms consider misinformation and
disinformation on their services.

It does not involve the ACMA directly regulating individual
pieces of content.

To be clear, the ACMA will not have the power to request
specific content or posts be removed from digital platform
services. The Bill puts the onus on the platforms.

The Bill is not a threat to free speech. The opposition not
only misunderstands the Bill's nature but also illustrates
a naive understanding of the threats to our society and
our democracy.

There's more at the following:

http://afr.com/politics/federal/making-big-tech-combat-disinformation-is-no-threat-to-free-speech-20230724-p5dqoy

To ttbn

Ok: if you like myself (and you seem to), think living under the undemocratic rule of our constantly appalling Governence is not so far removed from living in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban Government, than I think it’s important to analyse the mentality of the oppressors.

I understand this forum is open for debate on such subjects as herein you raised.

DD

Well, in my opinion Albanese is appalling, and I don't have to worry about the Taliban. I think we are heading down the toilet; Australia is still a great place, but the people are not much chop compared with those before me, and those I grew up with. I'm glad that I'm 80 and not 18. The business of censorship, added to the Covid terrorisation, the climate stupidity etc, and the low class scum in politics have all combined to piss me off and leave me less and less interested in what happens. I will occasionally say what I think; others can say what they think, but I'm past arguing with anyone.

Good luck with "analys(ing) the mentality of the oppressors". I'll settle for thinking of them as arseholes

One Nation has a free speech conference in Brisbane as we speak.
I know about it because I have a friend in attendance.

http://www.onenation.org.au/free-speech-bne

You won't get that from the majors.
Even Scomo was happy to see everyone silenced during Covid

AC

Interesting. We are reminded that: we should not "believe for a second the senior Coalition figures opposing Labor’s bill because when they were in government, the Coalition proposed very similar legislation just before the election. The major parties’ hidden agenda is the protection of their two-party system: they’ve watched votes leak to minor parties and independents over the years and they’re desperate to close down their communication efforts. If this bill is passed, you could even be saying goodbye to the Please Explain cartoon series".

This did indeed start with Morrison; Albanese is trying to perfect it, he is the arsehole we are currently dealing with.

Both major parts are rubbish as far as we ordinary people are concerned. They have more in common with each other than they do with us. They are not quite like Xi Jinping yet, but if we let them, they eventually will be.

Both Liberal and Labor are poison. More people need to be looking at the other options. The two party system must go.

The CPAC conference is on again in Sydney, with the same old bores like Tony Abbott telling everyone they should join a party to make a difference. He means the Liberal Party, of course, but the Left has too firm a grip on that party to attract anyone even remotely conservative. The Liberals are driven by polls, not policy, and they will try to out-Left Labor just to get back in. I'll say it again: Australia is a virtual one-Party state.

ttbn,

Who do YOU believe should be running the country? The Lovely Pauline or Loony Latham, seems they've had a falling out. Before the last election you were singing the praises of One Nation, and a couple of other nut job parties, where do you stand now? Silent on that score are we.

To ttbn.

Obvious it is to me, we’re in the midst of a “Secular Inquisition”.

The chief enemy to it are the old cultural moralities, particularly those tied up with religion.
The second most feared are the filthy unwashed poor. There doing a great job of working them over at the moment.
I’d guess we, the traditional cultural moralists, are about half an inch from being burned at the stake!

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=spanish+inquisition+monty+python&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-au&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:babfb794,vid:Cj8n4MfhjUc

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition: Our chief weapons are surprise, fear and ruthless efficiency.

Well we do get a sense of why this push was so advanced under the Coalition government and why they were so keen to progress it.

From Foxy's link.

"The Department of Home Affairs says: “Foreign actors … spread mis- and disinformation through social media in order to advance their own interests at the expense of Australia”. As an example, it cites an Australian Strategic Policy Institute study that “reported that Australian mining company Lynas Rare Earths was targeted by an information operation that used environmental, political and health concerns to undermine efforts to diversify global rare-earth supply chains.”

Censorship is always a concern but tagging things as misinformation by social media companies when they clearly are just that is appropriate.

But as the article states: "The current bill is directed solely at encouraging digital platform providers to have robust and transparent systems and measures in place to address what the platforms consider misinformation and disinformation on their services; it does not involve the ACMA directly regulating individual pieces of content.

To be clear, the ACMA will not have the power to request specific content or posts be removed from digital platform services."

Bit of a storm in a teacup yet again.

DD

Yes. Something like that. But totalitarianism is always a gradual process that is recognised by the hoi polloi only after it has happened. While it is happening - which it is in Australia - everything appears normal: we have people 'just like us' running things: white, English speaking, not like those awful Chinese, Russian, Arab mobs. We are just not like that.

Pig's arse!

To all those other people 'not like us', their leaders appear - or did appear- just like good old Albo, Dutton, Turnbull, Morrison; then, one day - bang!

The people in Canberra are not our friends. They don't work for us. Their entire existence, in most cases, is to get power, and to hang onto it. A short, sharp Coup, with some real punishment, might be better than what we are suffering now.

Lets look at what we have:

We have a Prime Minister who strongly supports
greater care for the disadvantaged and the
aspirations of Indigenous peoples. Who
believes in negotiation, and common sense. Who
will leave a lasting legacy. Whose infrastructure
will make the nation safer and more prosperous
for the next century or longer.

Australia need a reformist leader who can bring
high values to the top job and transform the
nation and importantly continue to win elections
and stay in office.

We have such a leader in our current Prime Minister.

Reagan said "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " And so it has come to pass. New technology is offering the authoritarian minded the ability to suppress any and all dissent and, unfortunately, they are want to use that ability.

Misinformation is always in the eye of the beholder. There was a time during the great lockdown hoax that governments said it was disinformation to say the virus came from a lab, that masks didn't work against the WuFlu, that the vaccine wasn't safe and stopped the virus. All those things were wrong or at least contestable, but saying they were wrong or contesting their accuracy was misinformation in the eye of the beholder ie the authorities.

The new media meant that it was possible for the truth to get out, despite the efforts of the governments all around the world. So now they are going after that new media to try to close off any chance that the truth, or versions of the truth the government doesn't like, can reach the public.

As in the US where the Twitter and Facebook Files have proven how the government pressured social media to suppress 'unhelpful' content, so this new push in Australia pressures social media to do its bidding.

/cont

/cont
Its true that the proposals don't allow the government or its agency ACMA to directly censor a viewpoint. But it pressures social media to do the dirty work for it, primarily through fines if they allow so-called 'misinformation' to stand. Even before the legislation gets off the starting blocks, social media are towing the line. A NSW MP's maiden speech was removed from YouTube because of alleged misinformation because it contained ‘medical misinformation,’ which YouTube defines as any information that, “contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19.”. ie saying anything different to the approved story is misinformation and will not be permitted.

The proposed legislation exempts government from censorship. It can say whatever it wants without fear of it being suppressed. But anyone who disagrees with it will potentially be censored by social media operating under the threat of fines for not doing so.

Started with Reagan, finish with Rand... "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."

Dan, AC, mhaze

Thanks for your comments so far. 'The Others' clearly don't list Lorraine Finlay among their experts to be listened to despite her accomplishments and qualifications; they will stick with Australia's answer to Lenin, Comrade Albanese.

I have to say though, that anyone who regards what Albanese is trying to do as "Bit of a storm in a teacup …" is more than a 'bit' of a fool.

Watch out for the joy-stealers.

The foolish Vixen has allowed itself to be beguiled by the hunters Fox whistle, and is travelling upwards in a dry gully…what awaits at the top, there won’t be time to think…

Is that justice? Or isn’t that Justice!

Here we have a poster with his fake indignation at this law change, I'm not of the opinion that this law change is all well and good myself, it needs careful examination first. At the same time this poster supports the very people with a far right political agenda, he even encouraged others to vote for the liberty destroying party One Nation, Palmer and the what's its name party, at the last federal election, he went on singing the praises of the Loony Latham, his kinda of guy, and what Australia needed! These extremists, should ever they be given the opportunity, would trash civil liberties and human rights at an instant. Then you would see some real "humanitarians" at work.

SR is being a little loose with the truth as usual. While the coalition was clearly annoyed with BS information being put out, they have advocated for mass censorship as Labor is trying to do.

ttbn

Out of curiosity, under what constitutional power or powers would a parliament be able to pass such a bill (without a High Court challenge)?

Kudos ttbn- The suspected partisan fake news bill seems to use "agenda power" to stop free speech without which democracy and the principle of distribution of power doesn't exist- as you imply "who watches the watchers". So much for the Westminster System and the Principle Of Separation Of Powers.