Opposition to reject Government’s fake news crackdown laws, labelling the move an ‘attack on free speech’

The Federal Government’s attempted crackdown on fake news and harmful content circulating online is an “attack on free speech” that will be rejected by the Opposition.

Shadow communications minister David Coleman confirmed the Coalition would oppose Labor’s re-drafted anti-disinformation and misinformation laws, meaning it now must rely on the Greens to get them through Parliament.

Online platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube, would face huge penalties for serious and repeated failures to stop harmful content spreading on their sites under the proposed laws, which form part of a wider government assault on the tech giants.

Mr Coleman said the threat of fines — which could be as much as 5 per cent of annual global turnover — would create an “enormous financial incentive” for the platforms to censor content.

“Digital platforms don’t care about the free speech of Australians — but they do care about their profits,” he said.

“So they will censor large amounts of material in order to avoid the risk of fines.”

The Government was forced to rewrite the laws after major backlash last year from the Coalition, free speech advocates and faith groups.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowlands has said the new proposal includes protections for free speech, while a proposed exemption for political content has been axed.

But Mr Coleman said the provisions in the Bill remained so broad that even honestly held opinions could be deemed “misinformation”.

“With its latest attempt, Labor has again demonstrated that it does not respect the fundamental right of Australians to free speech,” he said.

“This is a Bill which has no place in Australia.”