Australian Government Will Fine Social Media Companies If They Do Not Moderate “Misinformation”

What is misinformation? Is it like most major intelligence agencies saying COVID most likely leaked from the Wuhan Institute, not from someone eating something? That natural immunity was better than the vaccines? That lockdowns did nothing? That the vaccines would do nothing? That most masks do nothing? That Hunter’s laptop was, you know, actually Hunter’s laptop? That Putin did not conspire with Trump? That they did actually spy on Trump’s campaign? Who determines what is misinformation?

Australia said it will fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation online, joining a worldwide push to rein in borderless tech giants but angering free speech advocates. More here: https://t.co/gnoYINVtd4

— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) September 12, 2024

From the link

Australia said it will fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation online, joining a worldwide push to rein in borderless tech giants but angering free speech advocates.

The government said it would make tech platforms set codes of conduct governing how they stop dangerous falsehoods spreading, to be approved by a regulator. The regulator would set its own standard if a platform failed to do so, then fine companies for non-compliance.

The legislation, to be introduced in parliament on Thursday, targets false content that hurts election integrity or public health, calls for denouncing a group or injuring a person, or risks disrupting key infrastructure or emergency services.

The bill is part of a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown by Australia, where leaders have complained that foreign-domiciled tech platforms are overriding the country’s sovereignty, and comes ahead of a federal election due within a year.

A big questions is will the Australian citizens be for this or against this when it comes time to vote? Australia does not have the Free Speech or other 1st Amendment protections we have here in the U.S., so, will they like the government determining what is Approved Speech and which is not? What if the government demands that all criticism of government is misinformation?

And which other governments will do this will Canada, which has a history of not only restricting speech but prosecuting for it (if it’s against Muslims, especially)? Britain seems on this road, even threatening to drag US citizens to the UK for prosecution. And, how about the EU overall, which loves overriding all free speech (lower case for Europe) laws and Constitutional provisions?

Screw you, EU. pic.twitter.com/q8uEaYXVq4

— Amy Curtis ???????? (@RantyAmyCurtis) September 12, 2024

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