Dear Minister Rowland,

The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill amounts to an assault on Australians’ right to freedom of speech.

Throughout the Covid period, we have consistently seen the abuse of the terms “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “harm.” These words have been weaponised for political purposes.

We also know for a fact that statements made by Australians on their social media pages that were labelled as such by the Department of Home Affairs turned out to be completely true.

However, your government is now seeking to further weaponise these terms and shut down criticism of your government’s disproven narrative with severe financial penalties of up to $550,000 for individuals.

This is wrong.

Even Meta’s Australian head of public policy told a Senate select committee, “We can see some potential for that power [in the Bill] to be abused, or for it to be used in a way that inadvertently chills free and legitimate political expression online.”

When the government arbitrarily decides what constitutes mis and dis information and harm, then political freedom and expression is at risk. These terms must be very carefully defined.

Australians have had enough of having their speech and opinions monitored by your government, especially given that the narrative has been so thoroughly disproven.

Your sincerely,

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