Update: Australia’s misinformation bill is buried

With every independent senator now coming out against it, the bill has no chance of passing in its current form.

Today, two more senators publicly declared their opposition to Australia’s censorious misinformation and disinformation bill. In the words of another senator, the bill is “cooked”.

Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe this morning stated that the "broad and vague definitions in this legislation allow too much scope for suppression of dissenting voices” and that "neither ACMA nor overseas tech companies are appropriate arbitrators on questions of 'truth'." David Van, a conservative senator, dramatically reversed his previous position and has come out against the bill. Whilst Thorpe and Van weren’t necessary to defeat the bill, their positions ensure it cannot be passed in its current form. The strong defeat also sends a message that hopefully the Labor Party will heed.

Disappointingly the Greens stayed on the fence and failed to take a clear position and demonstrate their civil liberties credentials. This is obviously not surprising given the Green’s authoritarian drift over the past several years, but one still hopes. The Greens claim they were awaiting the outcome of the inquiry due November 25th, however, the failures of the bill are baked in and clear enough to see. The fact that the inquiry was to be released the same day as the vote was to be held should have made it clear that it was not a serious inquiry.

There is some suggestion the bill won’t be brought to a vote next Monday given the overwhelming opposition. It is possible that the bill could come back in another form, several senators indicated that they are open to passing it with significant amendments, but it is unlikely to happen this year. With any luck the Labor Party has understood how unpopular it is and won’t risk retabling it with the federal election next year. However, I expect a bird that never quite clicks and forever flails and butts its head against a closed window.

There is also a swathe of other free speech-related bills that have either been passed or are pending, including the child social media ban, digital ID, doxxing, and the eSafety Act, to name just a few. 2024 has seen a massive attack on the free internet in Australia. Done and dusted with the attacks on digital civil liberties we are not.

However, the conversation has shifted. With progressive senators now publicly opposing the often progressive-led digital authoritarianism, the “anti-disinformation” cabal and digital rights field might have to actually debate these issues, rather than writing off all opposition as “far right”, “tech bros” or any other pejorative. Even the socialists came out against the bill.

The “anti-disinformation” industry has gotten another bloody nose and free speech is on the ascendancy.