Religious Leaders Raise Concerns With Australian ‘Misinformation and Disinformation’ Law

Multiple Australian faith leaders have raised significant concerns about the Federal government’s proposed misinformation and disinformation legislation. The proposed law grants broad powers to the government agency the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), to enforce compliance from digital platforms with standards on content shared online. The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 (pdf) is back on the agenda for debate in Parliament this week. Under the bill, misinformation and disinformation are defined as content that is “reasonably verifiable as false, misleading, or deceptive” and “reasonably likely to cause or contribute to serious harm.” The legislation provides exemptions for some types of content, such as news and content shared for academic, artistic, scientific, or religious purposes is exempt....