Legislating against social media misinformation is misguided, says top cyber body

A cyber body chaired by a former Labor minister says the Albanese government’s intent to legislate against misinformation is misguided, as new documents reveal the government’s decision to delay the bill was due to a deluge of criticism.

The Cyber Security Co-operative Research Centre (CSCRC) is urging Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to drop the government’s proposal to give a regulator power to fine companies for failing to remove misinformation and instead focus on teaching Australians to sort fact from fiction on social media.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has already delayed the introduction of the controversial bill.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The centre – chaired by former Labor minister Kate Lundy and directed by the government’s own cybersecurity centre chief, Abigail Bradshaw – is pushing for bolstered self-regulation by tech firms as public and political pressure to clamp down on false information intensifies for firms such as X, Meta and TikTok.

“While there is a clear need to counter the spread of mis and disinformation, this must be balanced with the unintended consequences that may arise from regulation, the most serious of which could be a chilling effect on freedom of expression and public discourse,” the centre said in a submission.

“Therefore, it is the CSCRC’s view that platform self-regulation and targeted education and intervention, not legislation, may be more effective approaches in the fight against mis- and disinformation.”

Earlier this month, Rowland said she would delay the introduction of the misinformation bill until next year, following a deluge of free speech concerns from outfits worried about a government agency acting as a de facto arbiter of truth. Labor and some advocates deny the bill would have this effect.

An email trail obtained under freedom of information laws shows the delay to 2024 was the second change to the government’s timeline for enacting the contentious new laws.

On Thursday, July 20, a senior official in Rowland’s department wrote an email to Rowland’s ministerial office confirming a “deferral” of the introduction of the bill to November 27.

“Given the number of submissions and the commentary, [this] is wise,” the official wrote.

While the opposition, civil liberties groups and religious outfits have flagged concerns about the bill, it has won support from some sections of the community including the Cancer Council, which said new rules were needed to thwart misinformation about cancer.

“Nearly one-third of popular social media cancer articles contained misinformation and 76.9 per cent of these contained harmful information,” it said in its submission.

The research centre’s chief executive, Rachael Falk, is one of Australia’s leading cyber experts whom the government recently appointed as one of three members of an expert panel developing Australia’s cybersecurity strategy. Its establishment was funded in part by a $50 million federal government grant in 2018. This is supplemented by funding from industry, universities and government agencies.

According to the submission, the proposed law’s definitions are too broad and the nature of “serious harm” caused by online misinformation may be difficult to identify.

The centre is calling for the use of a new method called “inoculation”, which involves pre-emptive exposure to misinformation in an attempt to create greater digital literacy.

“Digital application of the theory via app-based or web-based games has proven promising, with several studies finding that the process of active inoculation through playing online games significantly reduced the perceived reliability of news that embedded several common online misinformation strategies and conferred psychological resistance against manipulation techniques commonly used in political misinformation,” the CSCRC said.

Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman said the centre’s contribution to the debate represented a “thoughtful analysis from a highly respected institution”.

“The CSCRC has an impressively credentialed board and speaks with great authority on issues related to cybersecurity. The centre’s negative conclusion on the bill is yet another blow to this beleaguered legislation.”

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