Labour’s doomed disinformation bill deals another blow as the Greens block controversial changes, calling on the government to ‘withdraw’ the legislation

Account now looks set to fail in the Senate despite significant efforts to advance legislation that was a central part of the Labor Party’s political agenda.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the party would reject the bill over concerns it “won’t address the real problems” causing misinformation online.

“Unfortunately, the government’s bill in its current form is simply not true. It doesn’t address the real issues that give rise to this misinformation and cause serious harm online,” she said during a press conference on Friday.

She said the law failed to address the “dangerous algorithms that fuel and support the platforms of these big tech giants.”

“If we want to seriously combat the influence of big tech, the massive spread of misinformation and disinformation, if we want to combat the prolific bots that spread lies and harmful content, we have to address the business models of these big tech companies,” she said.

“Today we call on the government to withdraw this bill and go back to the drawing board.”

The Greens are also set to oppose a social media bill introduced into Parliament on Thursday, which Ms Hanson-Young described as a “sham”.

The tech giants face a $50 million fine as part of a ban on children under 16 in a bid to combat the negative impact of social media on young people.

“The Senate inquiry is a sham, three hours on a Monday morning and that’s it, because the bill was only introduced yesterday,” Ms Hanson-Young said.

“This is a fake investigation and a fake bill.”

Opposition within parliament has grown in recent weeks, with both coalition and parliamentary senators expressing alarm about its impact on freedom of speech.

Opponents have called him “anti-free speech,” “extreme,” and “state-sanctioned censorship.”

Under the proposed laws, social media companies would be required to identify content that is “reasonably verifiable as false” and remove or penalize it accordingly.

The bill also allows fines for content deemed to cause “serious harm” through misinformation or disinformation.

The law has drawn criticism for its vague definitions and its ability to suppress free speech.

Labor has spent more than a year developing the legislation since Communications Minister Michelle Rowland released the bill for public consultation in June 2023.

The fate of the bill is now in the hands of the Senate.

Although the government has made every effort to gain support, the law continues to be criticized for being anti-freedom of speech.

In particular, the cross panel, where key voices are likely to decide the bill’s future, expressed strong opposition.

Senators David Pocock, Fatima Payman, Gerard Rennick, Lydia Thorpe, Tammy Tyrrell and David Wang have announced their intention to oppose the bill in its current form.

Senators Pauline Hanson, Jacqui Lambie, Ralph Babet and Malcolm Roberts also spoke out against the bill.

The Coalition has long rejected the proposed legislation and called it “one of the worst pieces of legislation ever proposed by the Australian Government”.

As Parliament prepares to recess for the summer, the government does not currently have the support needed to pass the bill.

Liberal senator James Paterson called on the government to have the “courage of its convictions” and bring the bill to the Senate despite its unpopularity.

“I’m worried that they will do the cowardly thing and run away now when they don’t seem to have support for this bill,” Mr Paterson told Sky News on Wednesday.

“It’s not surprising that they don’t have support for this bill because there is no stakeholder in the country … that thinks this bill is a good idea.”