From Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne senator@pennyallmanpayne.com

I am reaching out to you today as you have previously contacted my office with concerns regarding the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024.

I wanted to let you know that today my Greens colleagues and I have announced our opposition to the Bill and are calling for the government to withdraw it in its entirety.

We have heard evidence from experts, lawyers and the community that the Government’s approach doesn’t get to the heart of tackling the harms of mis- and disinformation. There are serious concerns that handing responsibility over to tech platforms to self-regulate what is true or false will likely have unintended consequences that undermine the policy intent.

Greens’ opposition means the bill cannot pass the Senate. The Government has failed to address the significant concerns that have been raised by many in the community, and the Greens are calling on the Government to withdraw the bill.

This Bill doesn’t actually do what it needs to do when it comes to stopping the deliberate mass distribution of false and harmful information, and punishes individuals while giving media moguls like Murdoch an exemption.

I want to thank you for contacting my office and that of other Senators. We have received thousands of emails since the Bill was first proposed back in late 2023. It is so important that elected representatives are hearing from their community on issues like this one, and it is vital that we hold the government to account when their legislation falls short or grossly misrepresents community needs.

As such, the Greens will be opposing the Bill, and we hope that the government listens to community concerns and withdraws the legislation.