Crushing blow for Anthony Albanese as hugely controversial misinformation bill is SCRAPPED

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has announced that the Labor Party will abandon its attempt to introduce a disinformation bill.

Rowland made the announcement on Sunday following revelations that the Greens, the Coalition and several MPs would not support the legislation.

“Based on public statements and engagements with senators, it is clear that there is no path to legislate this proposal through the Senate,” he said in a statement.

‘The government will not proceed with the Communications (Countering Misinformation and Disinformation) Legislation Amendment Bill 2024.

‘The government invites all MPs to work with us on other proposals to strengthen democratic institutions and keep Australians safe online, while safeguarding values ​​such as freedom of expression.

“It is up to democracies to address these challenges in a way that prioritizes the interests of citizens.”

The bill aimed to combat seriously harmful content on digital platforms.

Greens communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said that while the intention behind the bill was “well-intentioned”, the proposed laws were “poorly explained and implemented”.

He has called for stricter regulation, which would target “dangerous algorithms” and heavy financial penalties for social media companies.

“We have to get back to the real problem, and this is how these companies profit from these dangerous positions,” he told ABC.

“If you want to prevent dangerous positions from spreading like wildfire, hit them where it hurts the most, and that’s the dollar.”

Shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash said the bill was an attempt to “censor free speech”.

“This bill is not about disinformation and disinformation,” he told Sky News.

“This bill is about the Albanese government giving bureaucrats the ability to say whether what you and I say is misinformation or disinformation.”

In October, religious groups and the human rights commissioner argued that Labour’s proposed bill to combat disinformation would threaten free speech and “undermine democracy”.

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said it would pose a “serious threat to Australian democracy”.

“One of our concerns about this bill is that it has the potential to stifle the processes through which knowledge advances,” said ACL researcher Elizabeth Taylor.

‘Today’s misinformation may be proven correct tomorrow, or new information may arrive that displaces the current orthodoxies of the time.

“This is the process of progress.”

ACL chief executive Michelle Pearse said the bill’s provisions that would protect religious defamation were “an overreaction to censor opposing opinions.”

The Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter A. Comensoli, also questioned who would make judgments about what is considered misinformation and disinformation and said there needed to be more transparency.

“The legislation itself doesn’t address this in an articulate way… the question of who is going to make judgments about what is truthful, what is a fact, not so much the content itself,” he said.

“The platforms themselves have prejudices.”

Australian human rights commissioner Lorraine Finlay said the legislation needed “greater transparency, accountability and scrutiny mechanisms” and feared it could create “layers of expression rights”.