Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 a path to ban social media.
“No matter how you look at it, this Bill is an egregious violation of the human right to freedom of expression. The suggestion that social platforms be fined 5% of their global revenue is disingenuous and a mere conduit to shut them down”, says Radha Stirling, CEO of Due Process International.
The Labor government in Australia has introduced a controversial Bill that would see the country turning into the next Brazil. “After the government disseminated disinformation surrounding covid, there is not a chance in hell that we could ever trust them to decide what in fact, is misinformation and what is dangerous”, adds Stirling.
“There is no doubt that the main area of concern for governments is the people’s ability to freely communicate ideas and heaven forbid, to criticise their policies. This Bill represents the biggest crackdown on a free thinking society and represents a gloomy future where citizens will only be able to read or talk about government approved narratives. I couldn’t be more concerned about the cooperation between Australia, the UK and EU in this concerted push towards an Orwellian, cashless and fully surveilled society.
“Once they control the narrative, they control everything and they know it. That’s why they have been colluding against the citizens, under the false misrepresentation of “your safety. This is the single most important issue in our world today. Don’t let them distract you with the economy, climate change or LGBTQ issues. Any party or person who wants to control or remove your human right to freedom of expression, is wholly against your personal sovereignty. Elect those who intend to fight for your freedoms, not erode them”.
Stirling is concerned the Australian government will push platforms so far, they will have to close down like they did in Brazil and they will have achieved their objective.
Elon Musk has branded the Australian government “fascists”. “He’s absolutely right”, affirms Stirling. “The Labor government is likely to be removed at the next election and are seeking to ram through seriously controlling legislation on the way out that the liberal government is unlikely to undo if elected. Although there has been pushback from the opposition, it has not been significant and we have to remember, they introduced the Digital Safety Act while in power, now headed by the power hungry Julie Inman Grant, a former Twitter censor, who is desperate for more authority after losing out in court to Elon Musk.
“The fact is, on the issue of censorship, we can clearly see a uniparty in Australia. People need to look at the individual representatives and parties who are fighting for their free speech and support them. I also encourage Australians to raise these issues with their local MP’s and Senators, informing them that this is a major voting issue for them. Politicians are constantly on the campaign trail talking about crime, the economy and the climate, while pretending that censorship is a non-issue. We need to inform them that it is of paramount importance in a democratic society or we will lose our ability to criticise them on issues of the economy, immigration, crime, climate and their own misinformation”.
“We do not want an Australia where criminals are being let out of prison early to make space for meme posters as we are seeing under the UK’s new labour government”.
Stirling is a human rights advocate who successfully lobbied Canberra along with Senator Kroger to install human rights protection provisions in its extradition treaty with the UAE. She is an expert witness and the CEO of Detained in Dubai and Due Process International. In her roles, she has witnessed the direct impact of authoritarian governments and is a fierce advocate for free speech, open discussion and debate.
