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by Chris Baxter

On 24 November, Parliament abandoned the Misinformation Bill.

Just one day later, teal independent MP Zoe Daniel re-introduced it under a different name.

We were talking last week, and almost no-one has picked it up.

Here is an initial brief analysis of the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care Bill) 2024 and its implications. Clause references have been included throughout.

Massive Fines

The Act creates punitive fines for large social media platforms (5B) when they fail to meet a significant new set of obligations (Part 2A, Div1). Of course the Act only applies to those platforms the Minister chooses 5B(b). The obligations don’t just include: duty of care, key personnel, risk assessment, risk mitigation, transparency, privacy and control obligations but “reasonable steps” in relation to all of the above.

Breaches of a Misinformation Standard attract a preposterous fine of 5% of annual global turnover. Breaches of this Act are at 10% of annual turnover. (s28A)

Wider Net

You will recall that the Misinformation Bill was held out as mitigating so-called “Serious Harm”, a definition which was as wide as a cow receiving Kuhblasen. But that was nothing. This Act requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent matters that would or would likely cause “harm” (they dropped “serious”) or even just “detriment to Australian users” (s28(d)).

The risk assessment must cover the dissemination of “harmful materials”, “negative effects on electoral processes… public security… gender-based violence… public health”, and other matters in the legislative rules (like what? — they’ll decide) (s28F(2)). But most of all, and as we have come to expect from our authoritarian overlords, it actually just covers whatever the Commissioner decides (ss28F(6)(1)(i)), 28G(1)).

Of course, a “risk mitigation plan” is also required (28F(9)(d)), which means kicking people off platforms, censorship, and the provisions basically give the Government the right to dictate how the platform works (ss28H 5(a),(c),(d)).

Chilling Effect

Finally, the platform is also forced to provide activist research organisations with access to their commercial data in real-time (s28M(1)) and to cough up any document the Commissioner requests within 14 days (194A(2)). Couldn’t imagine this access being used for political purposes.

This legislation is perfectly aimed at shutting down free speech platforms like X, and the Government can quite easily make the obligations practicably impossible to comply with.

Please let people know that the Misinformation Bill has a new name — The Digital Duty of Care Bill.

Taking another look at this – 7th Nov was when the House of Reps voted on the Misinformation Bill. The Bill was actually withdrawn on 24 Nov.

So the Digital Duty of Care Bill was literally introduced the next day.

Talk about brazen. They’ve blatantly ignored the thousands of… https://t.co/KkHub2waCO

— Chris Baxter (@chrisbaxter41) December 5, 2024

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Chris Baxter is a Christian, husband and father to four young children who holds a deep concern for the civil liberties of fellow Australians. Working as a patent attorney, Chris has some familiarity with reading complex legislation and tries to use this skill to expose Australian Government overreach. Chris and his family attend Lane Cove Metropolitan Baptist Church and he advises his family’s charitable trusts.

Republished with thanks to Chris Baxter on X. Image courtesy of Adobe.