Australia’s left-wing Labor government has been accused of trying to censor the internet with a new plan to fine social media companies $100 million if their algorithms direct users to “harmful content”.
Communication Minister Anika Wells’ proposal is included in Digital Duty of Care legislation set to be unveiled this week, which was developed after Labor failed to pass similar “misinformation and disinformation” laws, and comes after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant demanded more censorship powers.
The laws will also require tech giants to allow users to “opt out” of social media algorithms, force platforms to identify and manage risks, and put the onus on companies to prevent the sharing of content that is illegal or deemed “harmful” by the government.
But the Digital Duty of Care legislation, which sparked censorship warnings when it was first announced, has been criticised by technology entrepreneurs and senior members of the Coalition, the Australian Financial Review reported.
Freelancer founder Matt Barrie criticised the proposal, and described it as an apparent attempt to “censor the internet”.
“This is really just an attempt by the government to control what we think,” he said, and warned that it would disadvantage local tech companies who would be required to apply the new rules to the entire global market.
Opposition communications spokesperson Sarah Henderson also sounded the alarm about the proposal, calling it a “serious threat to free speech”, while Coalition leader Angus Taylor told News24 he was “deeply skeptical” and that he feared it was going to be an attempt to “censor social media”.
“Labor’s disastrous misinformation and disinformation bill demonstrated the dangers of giving government sweeping powers over what Australians can say and see online,” Ms Henderson said.
“While tougher action is required to combat serious online harms … the digital duty of care, as currently proposed, appears a dangerous step in the wrong direction.”
Nationals leader Matt Canavan said the key issue was the kind of content that would be affected by the laws, asking whether it would cover figures such as US podcaster Joe Rogan, or Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.
“If it allows me to protect my kids from transgender ideology, I might be in favour of it,” he said.
Tim Doyle, founder of online healthcare business Eucalyptus, told the AFR earlier this week that plans to remove algorithms would devastate Australian companies, which benefit from recommendations on Facebook and Instagram.
“I really disagree with punching on Meta because Australia has one of the highest density of Shopify stores in the world, and all of them go to market through Facebook advertising,” he said.
“Facebook ads have become the lifeblood of small business, so a big punch on the platforms would be naive and damaging to the business growth of young Australians.
“The entire world of digital media is now based on people getting content that is like the content they have watched, and if you try to force chronological feeds, or content only from their friends back into people’s timelines, most people won’t choose it because they are addicted to the dopamine.”
