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Labor plans to use its ‘Misinformation Bill’ to censor Australians online. Are they now censoring those critical of their censorship proposal?

The Coalition has hit the Albanese Government with a “please explain” for its decision to slow-walk the release of public submissions made in response to its controversial Misinformation Bill.

Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman MP has accused Labor of planning to selectively release the criticism it has copped over the unpopular proposed law.

“It’s likely there’s been an avalanche of negative submissions on the government’s appalling plan,” Mr Coleman said in a media release on Monday.

‘The Submissions Should Be Published Now’

Mr Coleman questioned why the Government quietly updated its website overnight on Sunday to say submissions will be uploaded “in several tranches from early September”. Originally, the site had said submissions would be published in tranches after August 20.

“The submissions should be published now,” Mr Coleman demanded, adding that they should be released at the same time rather than in stages.

“How can the public be confident that the Minister won’t pick and choose friendly submissions first in a bid to spin the story about her Misinformation Bill?” the shadow minister said, in his broadside to Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland MP.

“The Minister should also reveal just how many submissions have been received,” Mr Coleman added.

Misinformation Bill Unpopular on Left and Right

Lawyer John Steenhoff of the Human Rights Law Alliance criticised the Labor Government’s latest move during an interview with Amanda Stoker on Sky News. He said the delay was “evidently because there has been such a high volume of submissions that are in criticism of this bill.”

Mr Steenhoff noted that Australians across the political spectrum have been critical of the bill. “It’s bipartisan — it’s not the left, it’s not the right,” he said.

“It’s nearly everyone who sees how dangerous it is to empower a non-transparent and non-accountable bureaucratic body with the power to determine what can and can’t be said on the internet,” Mr Steehnoff added.

“This mis- and disinformation bill is the law that Australia didn’t need, and now it’s evident that it’s the law that Australians also don’t want,” he said.

Other Stakeholders Critical of Misinformation Bill

This week’s developments were also picked up by The Australian, which has provided extensive commentary on Labor’s Orwellian proposal.

In its report on Mr Coleman’s criticism of the Labor Government, the popular broadsheet noted another group to have recently come out in opposition to the proposed legislation:

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance has become the latest organisation to raise concerns about the legislation, warning its broad definitions could be problematic and the exclusion of content produced by governments was “concerning”.

The left-wing journalists union joined a chorus of criticism surrounding the bill, which will allow ACMA to seek information from platforms about measures they have in place to address misinformation and enforce an industry standard if self-regulation fails.

The Victorian Bar Association has also criticised the Bill for its “illiberal double standard” in allowing the Government to say whatever it likes online while criticisms of the Government could be deemed misinformation.

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