A proposed law in Australia would promote another step toward censorship globally.
The draft Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Act 2024 (text here defines as “disinformation” any content that “contains information that is reasonably verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive” when “the provision of the content on the digital service is reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm.”
One must ask who is determining whether the material is “reasonably verifiable as misleading”?
“Serious harm” in turn is defined as including “vilification of a group in Australian society distinguished by race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality or national or ethnic origin, or vilification of an individual because of a belief that the individual is a member of such a group.” This would potentially cover criticism of most of the world’s countries.
