Australia's misinformation bill is dead.....for now

The Federal government's controversial bill has been blocked after cross benchers claimed it would violate free speech.

It is official.

The Australian government's attempt to ram through legislation to combat misinformation online has been blocked, after the Greens party announced it would not support the controversial bill.

“We are concerned this bill doesn’t actually do what it needs to do when it comes to stopping the deliberate mass distribution of false and harmful information,” said Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

This unexpected move is said to be the final nail in the coffin for the bill that intended to grant the media watchdog unprecedented regulatory powers to oversee digital content and determine what is ‘misinformation.’

A domino effect

During this week, an interesting display of parliamentary dynamics unfolded as an array of Senators announced they would oppose the bill, one by one.

Senators Lidia Thorpe, Tammy Tyrell, David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Gerard Rennick, Fatima Payman and others declared their opposition.

Their reasons varied from concerns over government overreach, vague definitions of misinformation, to the implications for political discourse and the potential for misuse. Each statement chipped away at the bill's support, creating a domino effect.