The campaign against Labor’s deeply flawed Misinformation law has been stepped up with the launch of a new online petition to give everyday Australians a voice on the issue.
Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman has today launched the ‘Bin the Bill’ website to counter the Government’s attack on free speech in Australia.
“The website will be central to our grassroots campaign to stop this terrible Bill,” Mr Coleman said.
“People who sign up at the site will be kept up to date on developments on our campaign on Labor’s planned misinformation law.
“The site is called ‘Bin the Bill’ because that’s exactly what needs to happen.
“Our primary message is that Australians have a right to freedom of speech – and this bad law must be stopped. We want everyday Australians to be able to voice their opposition to the Bill because it’s their free speech that is under threat.”
Mr Coleman said the Government’s definition of ‘misinformation’ was so broad it would capture many statements made by Australians.
“Under Labor’s plan, the Government itself is excluded from the law. So any authorised content from the Albanese Government cannot be misinformation. But criticism of the Government could be found to be ‘misinformation’,” Mr Coleman said.
“The law would also empower the Government for force people to appear before the Government regulator ACMA to answer questions about alleged misinformation, with fines of more than $8,000 per day if they don’t attend.”
The ‘Bin the Bill’ petition can be found at www.binthebill.au.