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?

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?

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

  1. L.G.Brandon!, L.G.Brandon! says:

    I have a question for you political mongers. What happens if Biden resigns?

  2. Elwood P. Dowd says:

    In 1710 Jonathan Swift wrote:

    Besides, as the vilest Writer has his Readers, so the greatest Liar has his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lie be believ’d only for an Hour, it has done its Work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late;

    “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it”, framed colloquially as “The Lie flies halfway around the globe before the Truth gets its boots on.”

    Why are people so gullible? Often to fill a void in their world view. Confirmation bias. Lack of reasoning skills.

    Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China in Nov 2019. It is still unclear how the pandemic originated. Two hypotheses – a lab leak or from an animal source – are still being investigated. Most viral pandemics – AIDS, Ebola, influenza, do have an animal origin but resulting in diseases with, importantly, varying degrees of human-to-human transmission.

    Natural immunity is great! Unless you die from the disease. If you recovered from smallpox you were good for life!

    Did Trump lockdowns do nothing? Worthy of discussion!

    Did vaccines do nothing? Clearly false.

    Are masks worthless? Clearly false.

    Hunter’s laptop WAS/IS Hunter’s laptop!

    The Russians and the Trump campaign DID cooperate. There is no credible evidence that gov’t spied on Trump campaign.

    Anyway, in the US, our utterances are very broadly protected by the First Amendment. Other nations can do as they please. Here we must rely on our “better angels” not to spread lies.

    BTW, government offices in Springfield OH received bomb threats tied to Haitian refugees.

  3. Jl says:

    As said before, those who censor are never been on the right side of history..

  4. Dana says:

    If former President Trump wins the election, the left will immediately cease wanting government regulation of what is and is not true.

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