MP Zali Stegall makes bid against political deepfakes and campaign disinformation
Indpendent MP Zali Steggall is pushing for new laws which would criminalise deceptive political advertising.
An explosion in AI-generated political deepfakes and concerns about deteriorating trust in election campaigning is behind a fresh bid for truth in political advertising laws.
Parts of One Nation’s lucrative “fire the liar” blitz would likely fall foul of the proposed laws, potentially costing the right-wing party a $300,000 fine.
Independent MP Zali Steggall will on Monday table her latest bill to crack down on deceptive political advertising, laws she says the community is crying out for.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Truth in political advertising has broad support, even One Nation voters want it,” she told AAP.
“All perceive that there are lies. Everyone wants the level of trust to increase.”
The bill would introduce a political advertising standards board that would enforce a formal code of ethics requiring ads to be truthful, accurate and supported by evidence.
It would also require all artificial intelligence-generated or content that could deceive voters to be clearly identified as such.
It is on this point the “fire the liar” campaign, launched on the back of the budget broken promises over capital gains tax, might falter.
The promotion, which had raised $4.7 million for One Nation as of Sunday, has been supported by AI “slop”-style fakes.
They include one of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gazing at the Sydney Opera House sails lit up with the campaign slogan.
Non-complying ads would carry financial penalties of up to $300,000.
As for the words used, Ms Steggall said campaigners had a right to call the prime minister a liar or make other claims as long as they could back them up with evidence.
“If it’s portrayed as a matter of opinion, it’s permissible,” she said.
Other recent fakes in the crosshairs might include independents lampooned as Greens party MPs and Labor TikTok campaign posts taking aim at Peter Dutton.
The bill only includes electorally authorised materials, not opinion or public statements by politicians.
Ms Steggall’s chief issue is preventing mis- and disinformation during campaigns, such as the Indigenous voice referendum.
“During the referendum there was advertising with allegations that the Voice would have the power to supersede the parliament ... that was not factually correct,” she said.
Earlier in June, the Australian Democracy Network released polling that showed 70 per cent of people were in favour of truth in political advertising laws.
It was the most popular of six possible reforms the network asked voters about, including campaign spending limits and donation caps.
The tabling of the Truth in Political Advertising bill will be the Warringah MP’s fifth bid to legislate in the field since 2021.
They includes tabling a bill the government had proposed but abandoned after citing arguments from the Australian Electoral Commission.
The AEC was concerned its reputation for impartiality might be sullied if it came into conflict with parties over the appropriateness of advertising.
But Ms Steggall said she was “responding to the government’s excuses” and the standards board should assuage those concerns.
