Concerns Over Misinformation Laws “Very Valid”: ACMA

Nerida O’Loughlin (pictured), chairwoman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has said that the concerns of social media sites about a proposed law to stem the tide of online misinformation and disinformation are “very valid.”

Legislation proposed by communications minister Michelle Rowland, initially revealed in January but now making its way through rounds of amends and subject to a parliamentary inquiry, would give ACMA the power to enforce a voluntary code and industry standard imposed on digital platforms.

The draft legislation defines misinformation as material that is “false, misleading or deceptive” and is “reasonably likely to cause serious harm.” The definition of disinformation is largely the same except for the caveat that it is deliberately spread. Mainstream media companies are exempt from the rules.

Yesterday, Meta’s head of public policy in Australia, Josh Machin, said that the new standard and code would be open for “abuse.”

Speaking to the Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media, Machin added that the law “empowers the ACMA to, for example, develop binding standards around misinformation and disinformation with some very substantial civil penalties and also criminal penalties for individuals who are involved.

“We can see some potential for that power to be abused, or for it to be used in a way that inadvertently chills free and legitimate political expression online. We’re thinking through some constructive suggestions.”

In response, O’Loughlin said that while social media sites broadly supported the new law, she acknowledged some of the concerns they had raised.

“They wanted to be engaged through this exposure draft process, and obviously Meta raised these issues about the standard and their concerns about penalties,” she said.

“I think they’re very valid concerns that they’ve raised.

“I’m not quite sure I understand the reasoning. I can say that they may self-censor – I’m not quite sure I see the reasoning behind their statement – but that’s what they’ve said that they’re thinking about and prepared to propose alternatives and submissions to the government over this exposure draft.”

O’Loughlin said that the new powers would reinforce the voluntary code of conduct that some social media sites had adopted to tackle the spread of false information online. However, she noted that some smaller platforms had not signed up for the voluntary code because of the extra regulatory burden.

“Fundamentally, what we want to be able to see is whether or not what the platforms are doing is effective at dealing with these issues,” she said.

However, the proposed law has proven to be more controversial with politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Richard Windeyer, deputy secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, said that it would turn ACMA into a “ministry of truth” with its power to compel companies to remove content.

“That is far from the role envisaged or provided to ACMA under the provisions of this proposed bill,” he said.

“It’s not regulation of content, it is regulation of their systems and processes that they have put in place and, in a sense, by extension, their willingness to comply with the systems and processes or the adequacy of the systems and processes that they put in place.

“But fundamentally, it is not about … the ACMA having any role with respect to censoring individual pieces of content.”

Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman concurred with his political opposite.

“Officials have acknowledged that under Labor’s law something can be ‘misinformation’ even if the person making the statement holds that view in good faith and has no intention to mislead anyone,” he said.

“It’s inevitable that under this law platforms would self-censor large amounts of content so they don’t fall foul of ACMA and incur big fines. This is very likely to mean the suppression of the legitimately held views of Australians.”

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