Stop Aussie Censorship

Censorship needs to be stopped. Check out the below comparison.

🚨 NEW! Download ALL 2,418 submissions made public to the Australian Government's dangerous internet censorship bill with a single click!

Download now from the "Resources" section of our website.

Online Censorship of Australians: Coming in 2024 Join the campaign to stop censorship in its tracks and defend Australian democracy.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/09/labors-misinformation-bill-an-egregious-attack-on-free-speech/

Labor’s misinformation bill: an egregious attack on free speech | The Spectator Australia The management of Covid by the Australian authorities has shown that the emergence of tyranny, with its suppression of free speech, is never far removed from reality. The horrendous violations of…

Today is the absolute last opportunity for the Australian Government to keep their word & begin "uploading [ public submissions] in several tranches from early September 2023".

Not a single submission has yet been published on that page.

What's the hold up?

500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
The government expects all that to be thoroughly policed for misleading/false claims.

Yet it takes them weeks to copy-paste a measly few hundred submissions and publish them on their site.

"Do as I say, not as I do".

"there is a serious risk that in combating misinformation and disinformation we seriously undermine freedom of speech, which is a pillar of that system of democracy that we’re trying to defend. And by restricting or knocking down that pillar, we might actually make the situation even worse than the problem that we’re trying to cure." – Anne Twomey

Expert warns of risk to freedom of speech Constitutional expert Anne Twomey has warned the Albanese government to be cautious that its proposed laws to combat online misinformation don’t become a cure that is “worse than the disease”, raising concerns that the bill will undermine freedom of speech.

Censorship and freedom of speech are often of late treated as a purely right-wing concern. However this recent example shows that everyone across the political spectrum should be alarmed by censorship laws that can be abused by governments and those in power.

In this case, climate activists had a restraining order (intended for those accused of domestic violence) taken out against them by the CEO of a fossil fuel company for protesting near her house.

Critically though, the order prevents those activists from making ANY REFERENCE to said CEO via any electronic means, including email, SMS, and social media!!

You can bet the “Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023” will be abused in similar ways by government and those in power to censor critical speech.

Australia’s democracy is on the line here.

Activists hit with restraining orders lawyer claims will stop them speaking out about Woodside Fossil fuel company denies orders granted after incident at CEO’s home are intended to prevent campaigners from speaking out

Law Council warns of draft bill’s risk to free speech The peak body for the nation’s lawyers has warned Labor’s proposed misinformation laws could have a “chilling effect on freedom of expression” by allowing social media giants and the communications watchdog to decide what constitutes information, opinion and claims online.

"Restricting people from public criticism of government decisions is not only anti-democratic and authoritarian, it results in dangerously bad policy when terrible ideas are shielded from normal scrutiny." – Senator Claire Chandler

Why are governments spending so much money policing our speech? | The Spectator Australia The Albanese government’s attempt to make itself the arbiter of truth with its Orwellian ‘Misinformation’ Bill has thrown a spotlight onto the establishment’s desire to limit free speech in Australia.

The Australian Government's proposed "Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023" will effectively mandate the use of these very kinds of allegedly biased fact checkers across all internet platforms.

If they don't use them, platforms will very likely be non-compliant with the mandatory codes and fined millions of dollars.

Meta dumps RMIT FactLab amid voice bias claims Tech giant Meta has suspended its partnership with RMIT’s fact checking program “effective immediately” after receiving complaints about bias and unfairness relating to the upcoming voice to parliament referendum.

"It is one thing for a social media company to set itself up as a censorial entity, but it is something entirely different for Parliament to pass a law that forces all social media companies to follow suit."

Albanese’s fact-checkers and truth police | The Spectator Australia The federal government’s proposed Misinformation and Disinformation Bill poses a serious threat to freedom of speech and expression in Australia. I’ve experienced first-hand what this law could do to…

Shadow minister Coleman said it was unclear whether the government was committed to the bill because Communications Minister Michelle Rowland “seems to be avoiding media scrutiny” and isn’t “fronting up for interviews”.

Calls grow for ‘terrible’ misinformation bill to be dumped Calls are growing for the Albanese government to withdraw its online misinformation bill with shadow communications minister David Coleman calling it the worst bill he has seen during his time in parliament.

“Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said the proposal, at its core, was about the creation of “a body run by politicians ... to be put in charge of deciding what statements made about politics and society are true or false”.”

Labor misinformation law ‘a dangerous proposition for society’ Human rights groups are the latest to criticise a bid to give a government body powers to penalise social media companies if they fail to remove misinformation.

The Australian Human Rights Commission making an important stand against the Government’s anti-democratic Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023 and the degradation of human rights that will flow from it.

Watch them try to dismiss her views while treating other commissioners views as gospel (e.g. eSafety Commissioner).

Today our Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay penned an opinion piece in The Australian about concerns the Commission has in relation to the Federal Government’s proposed Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill.

The opinion piece aligns with the Commission’s recent submission on the draft bill made to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.

Read it here: https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/opinions/why-misinformation-bill-risks-freedoms-it-aims-protect

Senator Antic’s full speech at CPAC on the misinformation bill.

http://watch.adh.tv/videos/senator-alex-antic-ministry-of-truth

After David Coleman - Member for Banks put out this press release on Monday, the AusGov Infrastructure quietly amended the landing page for this bill to say "Submissions will be published after 20 August 2023".

It's now August 23rd, and not a single submission published.

Is this the speed that AusGov Infrastructure and Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will expect of digital platforms in reviewing content for misinformation?

Will the new reality under this bill be that it takes 3+ days for posts to social media to go live?

Seriously, get a move on! Democracy demands it.

User generated content floods the internet at an unimaginable rate (e.g. 500hrs of video uploaded to YouTube every second) & the Australian Government demands it all be censored expeditiously at the risk of huge fines for website owners.

Yet it takes that same Australian Government MONTHS to review & release a measly few thousand text-based submissions?

Hypocrisy.

David Coleman - Member for Banks

"Controversially, the government will be exempt from the proposed laws, as will professional news outlets, meaning that ACMA will not compel platforms to police misinformation and disinformation disseminated by official government or news sources."

"As the government and professional news outlets have been, and continue to be, a primary source of online misinformation and disinformation, it is unclear that the proposed laws will meaningfully reduce online misinformation and disinformation. Rather, the legislation will enable the proliferation of official narratives, whether true, false or misleading, while quashing the opportunity for dissenting narratives to compete."

Brownstone Institute

Australia’s Misinfo Bill Paves Way for Soviet-Style Censorship ⋆ Brownstone Institute Australia’s proposed laws to crack down on misinformation and disinformation have drawn intense criticism for potential to restrict free expression and political dissent

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance has raised concerns about the draft bill which will grant the Australian Communications and Media Authority heightened powers to fine social media giants millions of dollars for misinformation and content it deems “harmful”.

The left-wing union joins an unlikely group of critics, which includes Coalition MPs and social media giants, who have opposed the bill in its current form over concerns it will have a chilling effect on freedom of speech.

“MEAA believes the inclusion of this ‘harm’ is dangerous and open to misuse and exploitation,” the submission says. “Indeed, there is a long history of important social movements being considered ‘disruptive’ by governments and powerful interests.”

Bill risks freedom of speech: union The journalists’ union has criticised Labor’s proposed laws to combat online misinformation and disinformation for its broad definition of harm, which it warns could be “dangerous and open to misuse and exploitation”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/why-labors-misinformation-bill-will-only-mean-greater-censorship/news-story/d25be8263dccf432892630d9dab758d1

Why Labor’s ‘misinformation’ bill will only mean greater censorship This weekend passed marked the close of submissions on the Communications Legislation Amendment Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill.

User generated content floods the internet at an unimaginable rate (e.g. 500hrs of video uploaded to YouTube every second) & the Australian Government demands it all be censored expeditiously at the risk of huge fines for website owners.

Yet it takes that same Australian Government MONTHS to review & release a measly few thousand text-based submissions?

Hypocrisy.

David Coleman - Member for Banks

Thank you!

The feedback period for the draft of the "Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023" is now closed, so we can now officially announce the results of our campaign to get as many people as possible to submit feedback opposing this dangerous bill.

Wow! 635 submissions drafted with our AI-powered Assistant!

While it's still early days and we don't yet know exactly how many people have actually submitted feedback against the Bill, nor how many people used our Assistant to help them do that, we are very pleased with these results!

Please like and follow our page to stay up to date as this campaign moves onto its next phase.

FINAL REMINDER! If you haven't yet made your submission you only have a few hours remaining! ⌛️ The feedback period closes tonight!

Don't squander your opportunity to have your voice heard about the dangerous "Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023".

If you need somewhere to start, use our AI-powered assistant to draft your submission.

Online Censorship of Australians: Coming in 2023 Join the campaign to stop censorship in its tracks and defend Australian democracy.

Another great submission

Let Everyone Speak Why I oppose the Australian Government’s draft Bill about “Combating Misinformation and Disinformation”

This is a great submission. Highly recommended reading about this dangerous misinformation bill.

AMPS Submission to (DITRDCA) Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023 Explore AMPS' submission to the DITRDCA's Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023, diving into the crucial realm of digital communication regulation and its impact on truth and accuracy

Great submission, well worth a read.

Misinformed? Why Aussie doctors are rejecting Labor’s online censorship Bill | Canberra Weekly According to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, “Misinformation and disinformation pose a threat to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy”.

A quick reminder! The window for citizens to provide feedback on the dangerous draft "Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023" closes this weekend, 20th August 2023!

If you haven't already got your submission in, please use our free AI-powered "Assistant" to give you a jump start in writing yours.

The Assistant will take into account your concerns and write you a draft submission which you can then tweak and submit to the official website.

Let's stop internet censorship of Australians together!

Online Censorship of Australians: Coming in 2023 Join the campaign to stop censorship in its tracks and defend Australian democracy.

https://reclaimthenet.org/australias-opposition-leader-peter-dutton-blasts-governments-misinformation-laws

Australia's Opposition Leader Peter Dutton Blasts Government's "Misinformation" Laws Join Reclaim The Net.

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We're a freshly-formed campaign of regular Aussie citizens outraged by current attempts to impose Government-censorship online.

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"But think just how much worse this will get if the Albanese government’s proposed bill against mis­information and disinformation passes. Politically correct censorship will become routine if Big Tech faces multimillion-dollar fines for posting material that faceless government officials think is misleading or false. Especially with formerly free speech that the PM himself claims is “misinformation” because it doesn’t fit the political case he’s trying to make."

How Big Tech tried to silence me There are many reasons to vote against the voice but here are two more. First, the fact that Anthony Albanese is not across the detail of the change to our Constitution and system of government that he’s proposing; and, second, in shades of Brave New World, Big Tech’s ­increasing censorship of ...