A Victory for Free Speech: Labor’s Backdown on Misinformation Bill Sparks Widespread Reaction

Senator Jenny McAllister said failure of the bill to pass meant the government would ‘not be in a position to help keep Australians safe.’

Icons of social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp, are displayed on a phone screen on Jan. 3, 2018. Yui Mok/PA

Labor’s withdrawal of the misinformation and disinformation bill due to lack of support has been met with relief by many, but questions about the government’s future direction remain.

Responding to the withdrawal, Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the legislation was a “scandalous attack on free speech, with censorship at its core.”

“Labor’s dangerous misinformation bill has been scrapped—a win for free speech for our democracy,” he posted on X on Nov. 25.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge described the removal of the misinformation and disinformation bill as a “good outcome” and called for the same to be done for the social media age ban.

Keep Australians Safe

Senator Jenny McAllister, representing Communications Minister Michelle Rowland in the Senate, said the bill had been an opportunity for Parliament to make a law to keep Australia safe.

It would have introduced fines for social media companies—up to 5 percent of their global revenue—if they allowed misinformation and disinformation to spread online.

“Failure to support this bill means this bill will not be legislated, and it means that we will not be in a position to help keep Australians safe with laws that address 21st-century challenges that we and other democracies face,” she said on Nov. 25.

The bill failed to gain enough support because some Senators thought it went too far, while others thought it did not go far enough.

“But it’s clear that .... on this case, the Senate was not prepared to find common ground or support it as a step in the right direction when it comes to holding big tech to account,” she said.

The minister extended an invitation to all parliamentarians to work with the government on other proposals to strengthen democratic institutions, keep Australians safe online, and safeguard values like freedom of expression.

“It is incumbent on democracies to grapple with these challenges in a way that puts the interests of citizens first and protects our society against those that would use our openness against us,” she said.

Overwhelming Objection

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Simon Birmingham, pointed out the Albanese government withdrawing their own bill was a “highly unusual step.”

“Usually, when people respond to a government consultation process, you will get a few of the different organisations that will put their views in. Maybe you'll get a few dozen. If it’s really big, you might get a few hundred,” he said.

“This bill had 24,000 people make submissions, overwhelmingly stating their objections to the bill and highlighting the flaws in the bill.”

Birmingham said there were still unanswered questions, adding, “I don’t know whether this legislation is still the government’s policy or not.”

Senator Michaelia Cash said the bill was about the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party “seeking to censor the free speech of the Australian people in this nation.”

“I have to say, colleagues, I’ve been in this place for 16 years ... and if you ever said to me as a member of the Australian parliament that a government would seek to bring in a bill that seeks to censor the Australian people from having an opinion and that seeks to effectively gag them from having free speech, I would have said to you that you’ve got to be kidding,” she said in Parliament on Nov. 25.

What’s Next?

Rowland left the door open to taking further action to deal with misinformation and disinformation, which she described as an “evolving threat.”

“It is incumbent on democracies to grapple with these challenges in a way that puts the interests of citizens first,” she said on Nov. 24.

“Alternative proposals include: Legislating to strengthen offences targeting the sharing of non-consensual and sexually explicit deepfakes—a vital and urgent first step secured by the attorney-general.”